The Dogs of War
by Mikael911
Summary: The Dogs of War is Twilight, but re-imagined in a completely alternate universe. The vampires and werewolves are locked in war, and Edward becomes a part of Bella's life to get close to the Quileutes, only to fall for Bella and have his loyalty tested.
1. Chapter 1

**Edward Cullen**

I stalked my prey silently, keeping a large distance between the two of us. I was absolutely silent as I followed in pursuit, appearing entirely innocent to any onlookers or passing cars. I was one hundred yards away from him, easily, and to the casual observer, I was just another young guy walking home from the bars after a long night.

My prey was in a hurry to get to his destination. And for good reason, because he would only be safe from me if he got there.

Not that he would be arriving there any time soon. In fact, he never would after I was through with him.

His pace was quick but I kept up just fine, maintaining my distance and keeping my eyes directly on him. As a vampire, my night vision is perfect; I am a nocturnal hunter by nature. During the day I can see fine, but the sun is a bitch and saps a vampire's strength greatly. My enhanced senses are most keen in the night. So it was unfortunate for my target when he stopped walking and took out his cell phone to take a call. Unfortunate because I could hear every word he was saying, and unfortunate because the words he spoke sealed his fate from that moment on.

"I'm about twenty minutes away. No, I didn't see him there. Yes, I have it with me. No one saw it. I know. I hear you. You'll get it." He hung up and looked around him, perhaps because he was paranoid about being followed, or perhaps because he was a werewolf and he was always on the lookout for vampires to kill.

He was standing at the mouth of an alley. How convenient for me, I wouldn't have to break his head and _then_ drag him to a dark alley to interrogate him. I tensed up, my body tingling with excitement, my heart pumping faster. As soon as he turned to begin walking again, I crossed the distance between us in a microsecond. I appeared in front of him.

"Fuckin' hell!" the wolf exclaimed out of surprise, reaching in his jacket pocket for what was probably a weapon. I was amused. I grabbed the arm he had stuffed in his jacket and squeezed with all my strength, hearing his bones begin to crunch in protest. He was just starting to scream in pain when I clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him into the shadows of the alley.

I shifted the hand I had clamped over his mouth to cover his face and slammed his head right into the brick wall. His skull cracked in a delightful sound and he made a weak moan, all the volume he could muster after the blow. His knees gave out and I grabbed him by the lapels, picking up the wolf and bringing him eye level with me. He was young, too young to be any match for me. Why he was assigned the job that he had been assigned was beyond me; it was a task better left to an older wolf. Or several wolves, for that matter.

His eyes were glassy as they looked into mine.  
>"Don't pass out on me now sunshine, we're just starting" I said. I let go of him with my right hand and reached into his jacket to retrieve whatever weapon he'd gone for. I pulled out a pistol, cocked and locked. The wolf was a fool to think that a gun could harm me during the night, but the child obviously had no clue. Unless he had something to stab me through the heart with, I couldn't be stopped. I stuffed the gun into my belt at the small of my back and returned my attention to him.<p>

"Now, you have two options. You can tell me where your den is, and I'll let you live, or you cannot tell me where your den is, and I'll kill you slowly. Your choice. But make up your mind quickly, I don't have all night and you're leaking." It was true; the back of his head was letting out a slow, thin, steady stream of blood.

"Don't…know where the den is…they don't let me see…have to go in blindfolded…" he muttered, trying to stay conscious. I narrowed my gaze and sifted through his words, trying to determine if he was lying or not. He was definitely young; he had probably only shifted three or four times so far in his life, which put him in his very early twenties. The wolves are highly secretive and untrusting of their own kind, so it was reasonable that a wolf as young as him was still denied the privilege of knowing his den location.

"Fair enough. Where is the letter you're carrying? I know you have it, and if you lie to me, I'll pull the eyes right from your skull with my fingers" I said. I was half hoping that he'd lie just so I could prove that I'd do it, but he was already frightened of me, so the extra terror would be marginal at best.

My enemy in fear is like a drug to me.

His words slurred even more. "Have…the letter…in my jacket…" I patted him down, feeling for the envelope when my handed landed on the prize. I slipped it from his inner jacket pocket and took a look.

A plain white envelope with a single word scrawled across the front; _Sam._

Bingo. This would be a major turning point in the war between the vampires and the werewolves. Actually, if by turning point I mean that the wolves of the entire western coast would be eradicated, then yes, this would be it. The envelope was thick, which meant that it had all the contents that we'd thought it had. I was thoroughly pleased, but this had been way too easy.

I met the wolf's yellow gaze, unblinking and unapologetic. "Tell me. Why do you have this? You're just a boy, hardly cut out to even be fighting in this war, let alone carrying intelligence like this. So where are you friends?" I probably should have killed him and dumped the body by now, but if I _were_ being followed by other wolves who had used him as bait, my departure would trigger them to make a move on me. The wolves would still think I was interrogating him so long as I stayed in the alley and he at least appeared to be alive.

"No…one…with me…they gave me…the list…because…thought would be better…give younger initiate the package…to cast doubt…like a red herring…" The wolf was fixing to take a permanent night-night, but he'd told me enough. They'd given him the package because he was a runt, so surely the vampires would be going after an older member to look for the package, meanwhile it would actually arrive via this young pup's hard work and their information would stay safe.

It was too bad that we weren't completely fucking retarded like they assumed us to be. Wolves have normal, human life spans, whereas vampires live forever. When you're around for more than a hundred years or so, you tend not to miss much.

I looked at the wolf and stared into his yellow eyes. He was a handsome kid, actually. Dark tanned skin and black hair pulled into a pony tail. It was almost a shame that I'd be making this handsome young guy a dead young guy.

"Thanks, wolf. I'm going to use this list to mobilize assassinations on every single member in here. Their families, too. Then we're going to use the information we torture out of the pack leaders to move east. Then do you know what we're going to do? We're going to slowly eradicate your filthy mongrel wolf friends until you join the dodos and passenger pigeons on the 'extinct species' list." The wolf's eyes grew slightly wider, as if the realization that his death tonight signaled the beginning of the end for the wolves had just hit him. Tears welled in his eyes as he processed the information, and I reached into his mind to see what he was thinking.

Images of failure raced through his mind. Images of the wolves being wiped out. Images of the vampires winning the war. Intense shame racked his mind and he began to cry harder as images of his family, his own pack, came rushing in. I could feel what he felt, think what he thought. I broke the mental connection and set him on his feet. He stumbled into the wall behind him and let his weight sag into the wall so it would support him, yet allow him to remain standing.

Even in death, the wolf would maintain his last shred of dignity.

"Thank you. You've been most helpful. It'll be okay, you know. I saw a movie about this once" I said to the boy. He looked at me in confusion and his eyes grew glassier. I stepped closer to him until we were face to face again.

I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "It was called 'All Dogs go to Heaven'".

I bared my fangs and bit him right in the carotid artery, opening a warm flood into my mouth. His blood poured into my gut and I felt little strength grow in my muscles and in my bones. Wolf blood doesn't sustain vampires very well; it's only slightly more sustaining than animal blood. I continued to drink until he was dry, an empty husk. The aftertaste in my mouth was not exactly pleasant, but I took great pleasure in having drunk him dry.

Drinking his blood and leaving him an empty shell, the very act of rendering him entirely purposeless in the world, was what mattered.

I stuffed the envelope into my jacket and looked around me. No wolves had run into the alley to stake me yet, so it was probably safe to assume that the kid hadn't been lying when he said that no one had come with him. My mind reading has been infallible for one hundred-and-seventy years thus far, and I hadn't sensed any lies when I'd read him.

I looked at his body and realized that I had to do something with it, because leaving a body with fang marks in the neck was not an option.

Humans are nothing if not inventive; one of their greatest gifts and greatest curses. They'd construct some hectic vampire scare in a heartbeat.

I took the gun out of my belt that I'd confiscated from the kid. I flipped the safety off and aimed right at his neck where I'd bitten it. _Boom. _The shot rang out with impressive report as the bullet hit its mark and left a very large entry wound, just like I'd wanted. Now he just looked like a guy who'd been mugged and shot in the throat after he'd been thrown to the ground. To make it believable, I stripped him of his wallet and took a look at his license. Jeremiah Fawkes was the kid's name. I pocketed the wallet and belted the gun.

Time to go. A gunshot would likely draw the authorities out, even this late, and the sun would be up soon, which meant I wouldn't be able to run at full speed or heal from injuries.

I got good and gone, flashing back to my car that I'd left parked on the side of the road when I'd spotted my target. I slid into the driver's seat of my Vanquish. It was kind of a flashy car for the area, but it was a sexy car and it was chic, and I loved breaking the speed limit into pieces with it. I started the engine and drove away, heading back to tell Carlisle of my success.

**Isabella Swan**

I woke up to a cold gust of air moving throughout my room. It felt less than perfect. I was under the covers and I debated with myself if I should get up or not, and looked over at the clock on the nightstand. 9:43 in the morning. It was Sunday, so I could sleep some more, but then I wouldn't sleep tonight and I needed to be ready for tomorrow…

Yeah. Time to get up.

I rolled out of bed and the floor was cold on my feet. I mentally cursed the fall air in Forks being as chilly as winter air.

Oh. I'll just move back to podunk, where it rains year round and it's always freezing and the floor is always cold in the morning. No big deal. Right?

Actually it was a big deal. I'd moved from Phoenix, Arizona to live with my dad and I was going to finish high school here. My mom had finally remarried, but with her new husband always moving and because I didn't want to be a burden for them and their constant travelling, I decided to stay with my dad. I hadn't seen him in forever, so it was actually nice to be spending so much time with him.

I'd come here three weeks ago, just in time for the start of the school year. I'd be a junior this year. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be starting at a new school, because being the new girl can really be depressing. I mean, you literally know nobody and they already have their friends from when they were freshmen. I knew one person here, technically. His name was Jacob. We'd known each other when we were kids and since I'd been back we'd hung out seven or eight times. We were close. I wished he went to Forks High, but he didn't, which was a complete bummer.

I would surely miss my friends from back home when I saw everyone hanging out with their friends. What made it worse was the fact that Forks High had about three hundred students.

My high school in Phoenix had had over three thousand.

But my dad, Charlie, had been telling me since he'd picked me up at the airport about how everyone in town was so excited to see the chief's daughter after all these years. That meant that every student at Forks High, in one way or another, would know of my existence and either hate me because I was new and different, or would treat me like an alien because I was new and different.

I'd be okay though. I could make new friends. And if they didn't like me, they would be really unhappy when I told them that I would be finishing high school here. If they thought I was some weird, strange 'foreigner', I could enrich their simple tribal culture with my experiences and tales of the wonders outside of Forks. Really, I was doing a public service by diversifying the natives.

I skipped down the stairs and stopped when I saw Charlie. He was watching Sports Center and eating scrambled eggs with bacon.

"Dad", I said sternly and with much volume. He jumped slightly and looked at me, giving me a 'what the hell expression'.

"There's bacon and you didn't tell me," I said with ice in my voice. Charlie's expression turned sullen and he looked down at his plate.

"I'm sorry Bells…I…I guess I wasn't thinking…can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" he muttered. He then looked back at me with the same 'my puppy just got hit by a Mack truck' expression.

I lost it and started laughing uncontrollably. Charlie and I hadn't seen each other from the time I was nine to the time I was sixteen, but we'd always been close, closer than my mom and I. The sarcasm rolled between us and we could do funny, mindless shit like I'd just done with no effort at all. He was laughing with me when he said, "There's more in the kitchen. We goin' back-to-school shopping today still?" he asked. I gave him a nod and went to claim the bacon that was still left. I hate eggs, but bacon is fabulous.

I took four strips and walked back into the living room. Charlie had flipped on the news during a commercial break on Sports Center. There was a breaking news headline.

"A man found this morning in a Port Angeles alleyway, shot in the throat in what police say is a simple mugging. A call was placed last night to the police at around 4:03 a.m. when a gunshot was heard in the area. By the time police arrived, the man had bled out and was dead."

The news anchor droned on and on about the case like it was the biggest news story since JFK was shot. In an area so small and so tight knit, it probably was the biggest case since JFK, but having lived in Phoenix where murders were a page six item in the newspaper, I wasn't impressed or concerned. I watched the lesser news stories as I munched on my bacon and decided that I should take a shower. I had a long drive to Wal-Mart and whatnot to get ready for.

**Edward Cullen**

"You made headlines, Edward. You're a star" said Carlisle dryly, muting the television when the news report of my handiwork in the night had made headlines. He and I were in the living room while Esme and Alice were sleeping. Jasper, Emmet and Rosalie were away in Los Angeles corresponding with some of our affiliates about the turned tide in the war. It was kind of weird with them not being here, because we usually stayed together, but Carlisle had told them to go as soon as I told Carlisle that I'd gotten the letter from the wolf pup. They would help the Los Angeles vampires prepare for the coming months of extermination and interrogation.

I opened the envelope that I'd procured the night before once more. I'd gone over the contents at least three times since I'd gotten it, but I still couldn't believe it. It was a handwritten letter to Sam Uley, the pack leader for the entire state of Washington, and a complete printout with the name and address of every regional pack leader in Washington, Oregon, and California. The letter was what made the contents make any sense at all, because such sensitive information wouldn't be communicated without very good reason. It read,

_Sam,_

_Here is the information you requested. I give you leave to do whatever it is you need to do, so long as it does not go against my wishes, which you are already well aware of. Normally this kind of information would never be handed out in such a manner as this, but you have proven to be a capable and loyal pack leader, so I leave it to you to do this and do it right. Do not fail us._

_Regards,_

_M. Richter_

We had no idea who M. Richter was, but we would know once we got to Uley. He was the first step in the beginning of the end of the wolves.

Some would say that sitting on the information was the best way to go, but some also say that _Jersey Shore_ is good television and that ShamWow actually works. When the pup hadn't arrived at the den like he'd said he would, the entire Washington pack would be on high alert and would presume the information to be compromised. Addresses would be changed, the pack leaders would go into hiding, and we'd be sitting on obsolete information.

Of course, there would be a grace period for us to work within, because the information of the list being compromised would be slow to get to every pack leader. They would have no clue that they needed to disappear and disappear fast. Every bit of information in the werewolf community is hand delivered. Archaic, but necessary, because the vampires have a very elaborate system for monitoring electronic communications, all of which are handled overseas.

"I don't know about being a star. That kid was really the star. After I told him I'd make his slobbering band of mongrels go the way of the dinosaurs, he stood up to me until I drained him dry" I said.

"Yes, well, you did well. The police aren't suspicious of anything and for them, everything is normal. Good work" said Carlisle as he gave me an easy smile and clapped me on the shoulder.

For a vampire who has been around for over four hundred years, Carlisle is really fucking chill. He is my maker, as he is the maker of all the rest of my brothers and sisters. He has a serene nature about him that inspires you to try and emulate him. He is the de facto leader of our coven and I wouldn't follow anyone else but Carlisle. Maybe Esme, because I consider her to be my mother the way I consider Carlisle to be my father.

"So now what happens?" I asked. Emmet and Rose were helping with preparation with the Los Angeles coven, Jasper was in Oregon giving the Salem coven a hand with _their_ preparations, and the Denalis would be coming down from Alaska to give us a hand here at home. Our plan was to kill each pack leader on the list after we'd interrogated them as to what they were planning. If none of them gave us a bit of good information, they'd all be dead and whatever Sam Uley was planning would be utterly thwarted, so we would win no matter what.

"Well, really, just one more thing needs to be done" said Carlisle. He went over to the desk in the corner of the living room and began digging through some papers. He glanced over his shoulder at me and grinned at me. "How much did you like high school in the 90s, Edward?" he asked.

Okay…random question. "It was okay, I guess" I said. I'd posed as a high school student in 1994 to tail a wolf who was posing as a teacher. It had lasted about a month and had ended like most of my assignments ended: with a dead wolf. "Why?" I asked.

"Forks High School begins classes tomorrow" said Carlisle conversationally. He began idly digging through the papers on the desk again. I saw where this was going.

"Carlisle, no way. We just got the list of every pack leader on the west coast and you want me to go start high school? What the hell?" I asked. I couldn't follow his logic at all. There were no wolves in Forks High School, we'd made sure of that.

"There is a new student in town. Her name is Isabella Swan. She's the chief of polices' daughter. She starts school tomorrow" said Carlisle.

Okay. A new lunch special on the Forks menu. That was excellent and fine, but why was she important? We rarely tailed humans because they were generally useless as far as the war went.

Unless you count the fact that their blood is what feeds us, and if we're starved, we can't exactly fight a war.

"She has intel. She was friends with a boy who is a part of the Quileute wolf pack when she was just a girl, and since she's been back, they've reconnected. We need to start making them disappear one by one until we can stand against them. Sam Uley and any pack leaders in Washington have probably already gone into hiding because they are geographically closest to Uley, and they will find out before anyone else does that the letter was intercepted. If we can use the Swan girl to keep close to the Quileute tribe, they can't disappear on us. "

"So how does this Swan girl act as an asset? I mean, if I get anywhere near this wolf friend of hers, he'll immediately know what I am and I'll be forced to kill him. And won't that just give the Quileutes a hard on?" I said.

"She's an asset because she's a way for you to get close to the wolf without arousing suspicion. And you won't have to kill him. He hasn't has his first shift yet, and he shouldn't for at least another year or two. Plenty of time" said Carlisle. But plenty of time for _what?_

"Plenty of time for _what?" _I asked, wishing we could skip all the droll details and get to the point.

"You get close to the Swan girl. Be her friend. While we begin taking care of pack leaders further to the south, you work on the Swan girl and getting intel on the Quileutes. You can't tail the boy by yourself, because he is practically invisible except when he sees the girl. If he is visible when he isn't around the girl, he's deep in Quileute territory and you'd be a dog treat for the wolves" said Carlisle. He took a sheet of paper off of the desk and handed it to me.

A class schedule. A map of the school. A supplies checklist.

You have got to be fucking kidding.

"You have got to be fucking kidding" I said to Carlisle. I was so not going to go and play pretend with some human girl when I should be breaking wolf necks.

"I'm not fucking kidding." Carlisle said as he smirked. "Look. I know you'd rather be off killing wolves and being active in the war, but right now this is the most important part of our plan. Without this, we have nothing. We're starting in the south with assassinations because word won't travel down south fast enough for them to hide. But the wolves closest to home in Washington have probably already begun to go invisible. Get close to the Swan girl, and when she is going to be around the wolf, invite yourself or find some way to get close to him, and go from there."

I thought about it. I certainly didn't like the idea of going back to high school…but I also didn't like the idea of the vampires losing the war.

"I…fuck. I can't say no. I guess I'm going to be a Forks High Spartan. Rah. Wooh" I said in a deadpan voice. Carlisle gave me the rundown on when to be at the school.

"Arrive at seven. You have to go to guidance and get your books. Then you basically follow your class schedule as loosely as possible and don't bring attention to yourself. The entire point in going is to be where the Swan girl is. Here's a picture of her." He produced a picture from a folder.

She was an attractive young woman, no doubt. She was of average height, or at least appeared to be, with long mahogany hair. She had a delicious set of hips on her and her lips had an amazing pout to them. Her breasts were excellent, proportional to the rest of her, which made me think…

"Carlisle, when was this photo taken" I asked.

"A week or so ago. She came into town three weeks ago and I sent Alice out to get a photo of her in preparation for this" he said.

He'd been planning this far in advance? It made sense, if I thought about how long we'd taken to get our hands on the letter. But still, it would have been nice to have gotten some prior notice.

Then again, there was no saying we'd ever find or get the list, so I could understand the lack of disclosure.

I looked at the photo once more. She really was beautiful, to be honest. She was in front of what appeared to be the front door to a house, likely hers. She was looking off to the right and appeared to be in mid stride. Alice had taken a photo of her walking out of her front door.

"And this is the wolf" said Carlisle, producing another photo.

Another Alice photo op. He was a wolf alright. About six feet tall, judging from the photo. Long black hair done up in twin braids. Tanned skin and a slender physique. When he shifted for the first time, he'd grow about three inches and put on about eighty pounds of muscle.

Talk about a growth spurt.

"What's the wolf's name?" I asked Carlisle.

Carlisle looked at me. "Jacob Black."


	2. Chapter 2

**Isabella Swan**

I got out of my truck and looked around the parking lot. A lot of the juniors and seniors drove to school, apparently, because I'd snagged one of the few parking spots left. I felt comfortable with my old beater, a rust-red Chevy pickup that dated back to the sixties. It was difficult to drive until you got used to the sticky clutch and the wheezy engine, but Charlie said he'd looked it over when he bought it for me and deemed it safe to drive. Dad would never let me drive anything that would be dangerous to me or other drivers, so I didn't mind.

I'd levitated with joy when I'd seen the car sitting in his driveway when we got home from the airport. In Phoenix, I'd had to take the bus to and from school and even though I'd learned to drive, I didn't have a car of my own. Mom had promised all the time that she would buy me one, but she had put it off. Way off. I personally think she was just too afraid to let me drive on my own, but whatever. When Charlie told me that the truck was mine, I hugged him until I squeezed the breath out of him. I liked older cars and even though the paint job on this old truck was now non-existent, I didn't care. It gave the truck character. Most of the other cars in the lot were average, and though mine was probably the oldest, it certainly didn't stick out.

I decided that I needed to find the main office to get my schedule, so I looked toward the main campus and immediately decided that I would get lost if I tried to go it alone. I took a look around the parking lot at the packs of students hanging out before the bell rang. I didn't really want to bring attention to myself to an entire group of people, so I looked for someone who was alone. I saw a boy with dark hair and thick glasses and decided that he was just as good as anyone else.

I approached him and gave him a short wave. "Hi! I'm new here, and lost, and I can't find the main office. Could you tell me where it is?" I asked pleasantly. I'm a very friendly person, and when I talk to strangers I smile a lot. This was apparently the appropriate thing to do, because he returned my enthusiasm immediately.

"Yeah. Hey. You're Isabella Swan? Everyone's been talking about you. We don't get a lot of new students. Small town, huh? Yeah. Uh, I can walk you to the main office if you want. It's like right over there," he said as I pointed behind him.

I was taken a little off guard, but I nodded happily and let him lead the way. I guess they weren't all going to be weird about me being the new girl after all. I was okay with that.

"So uh, do you like it here? Forks I mean?" he asked. He was a bit of a nervous wreck, but that was probably just a part of who he was. It was adorable, actually.

"Yeah. I was born here actually, but I moved to Phoenix when I was nine. I always liked it here, mostly because my Dad is here" I told him.

"That's cool, Oh, uh, my name is Eric by the way" he informed me. We walked through students standing around and I noticed at once how open the campus was. At Phoenix there had been tons of hallways, but here there were a lot of open spaces. I like being outside, so I was happy with this new development. We came to a set of glass doors that said 'GUIDANCE' on it.

"So you can go in here and get your schedule and the bell should ring soon. But you can meet some of my friends before then. If you want" he said awkwardly. I got the feeling that either he was always like this, or it was just the fact that I was a girl that was making him so nervous. I felt a little bad if I was doing this to him, but he was nice and I was definitely okay with meeting new people.

I smiled at him. "I'd love to" I said. We walked into guidance and I saw one person already at the desk. He was talking with the lady behind the desk. Eric and I sat in the chairs that were set out for people to wait in. Eric was staring at the floor and probably thinking of conversation to make. Poor kid.

I looked at the person at the desk and saw that it was a boy. No, not a boy. He was way too tall and fit to be just a boy. He was probably six-foot-two and he was in great shape. He was wearing slim cut black jeans with black combat boots, and a charcoal gray Henley. I couldn't see much else because he was facing away from me, but his terrific ass definitely did not escape my attention. His hair was cut short in the back.

He said something to the lady and turned around to leave. It just so happened that his eyes landed right on me. I stared back into blue eyes, dark blue eyes. He had high cheek bones and he was clean shaven. His face wasn't a baby face, but it wasn't gaunt, either. It was well defined and he was obviously a senior or maybe even a teacher's assistant judging by how old he looked. His hair was dirty blonde, and it had the whole 'casual disarray' thing going on. His jaw was well defined but not too angular. He was gorgeous, really. He looked away from me and walked out of the room.

I got up and told the lady behind the desk that I needed my schedule. Eric had gotten up with me and was looking at the entrance behind us as I waited.

"He must be new too, because I've never seen him around here. Looks like you won't be the only newbie here after all" he told me. I did feel relieved that I wouldn't be the only item of gossip once they heard about the new totally hot guy who was new here too. I smiled at Eric. "So you pretty much know everyone here then?" I asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's a small school so you like pretty much get to know everyone. That's why people all knew that there was a new girl coming to school" he said. I didn't mind the attention, because so far I hadn't really gotten any. Maybe it was just gossip about the excitement of a new student.

The lady behind the desk handed me my schedule and wished me good luck on my first day. It was shaping up pretty well so far, but it hadn't been that long, either.

"Alright. We can go meet up with Mike and everyone else" said Eric.

**Edward Cullen**

I walked out of guidance and grabbed out my cell phone. I had seen the girl in the office, by random happenstance, which was fine by me. I had taken note of what she was wearing as I'd been walking out; faded blue jeans, converse sneakers, and black form fitting sweater. Now I could pick her out of a crowd if need be, though Carlisle had orchestrated things so that I had at least one class with her. He was pretending to be my biological father for enrollment purposes and he had told them which classes I would be taking. I didn't really care, because my mission wasn't to get good grades; it was to get close to the girl. I still wasn't totally thrilled about this new assignment, but it at least appeared to be simple.

I shot Carlisle a quick text telling him I'd seen her. Carlisle is constantly trying to stay two steps ahead of the wolves, and so information is his most valuable commodity. It couldn't hurt to tell him that I was already making progress this early in the day, if seeing the girl was progress. I had gone to guidance to finalize my enrollment, because I was coming in so late, but I hadn't expected to see her until sixth period, the one class we had together. To blend in completely and not raise suspicion, I would have to attend all of my classes rather than coming to the school at the end of the day just to go to her class.

I could feel my instincts protesting. I was standing outside, and even though Forks is usually cloudy, sunlight still comes through all those clouds and it was getting its groove on with my body. I could feel my lack of strength, almost a tangible presence in and of itself. I was just as strong as any other human man right now. I was just as fast as any human man and I would see just as well as any human man. Being out so much would be tough, but bearable. During the day vampires like to stay inside because in the sun, a werewolf could pose a legitimate threat to a vampire. Vampires' wounds won't heal in the sun and injuries that would normally have no effect on a vampire in the night could kill them in the day. Luckily, werewolves can't shift into their wolf form during the day, so I could still fight; a werewolf is only as strong as his body is during the day.

The sun is the great equalizer for wolves and vampires.

I knew that it'd be tough, but this was the price of war. I could do this; had to do this. I was tempted to wait outside for the girl and follow her at a distance, to see if I could introduce myself to her and the boy she was with. To the humans, I was just a new student like the Swan girl. If I could find foothold with her and the new friends she made, I'd be that much more woven in with her and her schedule.

The doors to guidance flew open and the Swan girl with her escort walked out. I saw them walking towards me, so I began to walk in the same direction they were, away from them. I slowed my pace ever so slighty, and because the boy was talking so loudly to her, I knew when they were approaching behind me. I let my phone slip out of my hand and it fell to the concrete sidewalk with a clattering of plastic. The phone intercepted their path perfectly, and they both stopped walking to avoid obliterating it underneath their feet.

"Shit, I'm sorry guys" I said as I leaned down to pick up my phone. The Swan girl was looking at me with a curious expression. Her eyes were slightly widened but she didn't appear to be afraid. Now was my chance.

"Oh hey, I just saw you in guidance, are you new here too?" I asked her. Her face broke out into a wide grin and she nodded her head.

"Yeah. My name's Bella. Bella Swan." She stuck out her hand and I grasped it lightly. She was warm, and her skin was soft. I noticed her nails were painted bright neon orange.

"I'm Edward. Edward Cullen." I returned her smile and looked at the boy. I wasn't interested in him at all, but I needed to play my part well. "And you are…?" I asked him.

"Oh ah. I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand too, but I wasn't so light with my grip. He took my thunder grip like a man, to his credit, but his face betrayed his pain. I laughed inwardly.

"So where are you off to? Do you know anyone here?" asked Bella. She was still smiling and looking up at me; from the picture I'd seen of her, I hadn't been able to tell how tall she was, but standing in front of her she had to only be five foot eight.

_She might be small in stature but she sure is outgoing,_ I thought to myself. Being so peppy and chipper with a vampire that could easily make her a midnight snack took balls, but then if she knew what I was she probably wouldn't be so cheery. Still, I was happy that I didn't have to pull teeth to get to know her. I said to her, "I don't know anyone here, actually. I moved here from California this summer." Her face lit up slightly at this little ditty.

"I just moved from Arizona. And now you know me. And Eric. He's taking me to meet his friends. So you should come with us!" she said in a bright voice. I couldn't really turn down the offer; since I hadn't really had time to plan how I was going to make time with her or become her friend, her insistence that I come along to wherever they were going was fine with me. Her chirpy attitude and happy demeanor seemed a little naïve, but I didn't know enough to make that judgment quite yet. _Take nothing for granted, Edward. This is about the war. _

"Take me away," I said to her, even though the boy was leading us. Eric had gotten quiet, probably because he felt threatened by another male being around this gorgeous young woman he obviously wanted all to himself. He'd have to deal. But I had to play my part and play it well, after all, which meant that I couldn't be a complete dick to him. "So Eric," I said to him, "where are you friends?" I was perfectly polite and conversational about it. He said, "Oh. They're in the quad. It's in the middle of campus. It's where mostly everyone that doesn't hang out in the parking lot goes in the morning" he informed me.

The quad was a courtyard with a lot of outdoor tables set up in it. It was right next to the cafeteria, so a lot of students were outside eating breakfast before class. Eric directed Bella and me to a pack of students standing around near the middle of the quad. They all greeted Eric, glossed over Bella's presence, and gave me a weird look. Obviously they had been expecting the new girl, but not the new guy.

"Hey guys. This is Bella Swan. And this is Edward Cullen. He just moved from California." His friends all seemed more relaxed when they learned my name, but they hadn't heard that a new guy was going to be here this year so they wouldn't be totally comfortable once they heard my story.

"How's it goin' guys" I greeted pleasantly. The guys in the group all gave me a nod; the girls smiled stupidly and gave me a small wave.

It's not a surprise to me that human women find me attractive. I'm not a braggart, unless I'm speaking of my skill as an assassin and master of disguise, so I don't like to judge my own looks, but most women are into me. It can helpful at times, because getting my way if there is a woman involved is easy. This new role I was playing would be no exception to that rule.

Bella glanced at me and then looked at the group. "So, we both don't know anyone except each other and Eric" she said. "Could I like, know everyone's name?" she asked earnestly. She probably wanted to eliminate any awkwardness that had arisen. Eric's friends seemed normal enough, but they obviously weren't used to new people.

A guy with spikey gold hair spoke up. "I'm Mike Newman" he said as he smiled at her. He had been eye fucking her since we arrived and it bothered me slightly. He was treating the new girl like a new opportunity for his penis.

Human men can be pigs.

A girl with shoulder length dark hair spoke up after Mike and introduced herself as Jessica Stanley. Another girl with frizzy brown hair introduced herself as Angela Johnson. Eric started talking to Mike and Angela pulled Jessica off to the side to show her something on her phone, which left me standing next to Bella. She turned to me and handed me a piece of paper. "Can I see your schedule?" she asked. She would be thrilled when she saw that we had a class together. I handed her mine as I looked over hers.

I already knew her schedule, of course. She was a smart girl. She had three AP classes and she was in Spanish III. Not hard compared to other possible class schedules, but it was enough to show me that she was intelligent and that was useful information. Any attempt to bullshit her into doing anything would probably fail.

"Wow, you're a junior?" she asked musingly. I guess I looked older than a junior might look perhaps, but that was easily explained away. "We have AP Biology together!" she said excitedly. She handed me my schedule and I returned hers. "AP Bio?" said Mike, who had apparently finished speaking to Eric. He looked at both of us. "Sixth period?" he asked. Bella and I gave him the affirmative and he seemed happy that she was in one of his classes. They then did the schedule swapping routine while I checked my phone. Carlisle had sent me a text;

_Rose, Jazz and Emmet came back from LA. They will go to Alaska to inform the Denali coven. Keep up on Swan._

My siblings had finished their work fast. Part of me was a little peeved that I wouldn't be going to see the Denalis. Tanya, one of the Denali vampires, had a thing for me and we hooked up whenever I went up to see them. I could have used a good lay with the war fixing to go into high gear, but I'd have to deal.

Bella turned back to me with a smile. "So do you like it here? California must have been a lot sunnier" she said. I wanted to laugh out loud. In direct sunlight I'd be even weaker than I was now.

"Well, I like weather like this. My dad moved here because of his job, so the cold and the rain were kind of a fringe benefit" I said. She opened her mouth to respond when a loud bell rang and the humans in the quad mobilized to head to their classes. Eric's friends all got their shit together and started walking in various directions after some parting words. Bella stayed put.

Eric stayed behind for a second. "There's only one lunch period. We eat inside, so look for us in the cafeteria" he told us. Bella nodded and said bye as he left. She turned back to me. "So…I guess I'll see you at lunch?" she said, more asking than stating. I gave her an easy smile and told her that I'd be there. She gave me a chipper farewell and turned around to walk away.

I peeled my eyes away from her swaying hips for a second and concentrated. Reading minds took more energy in the sun, but I could still manage it. All vampires can read human and werewolf minds. Vampire to vampire mind reading was impossible, which usually wasn't a problem, because vampires were tight knit and loyal to one another.

I reached out to penetrate her thoughts before she was too far away. I felt her thoughts, her feelings, her brainwaves connect with mine for just a second…

And suddenly the connection was broken. A mental barrier pushed my invasion away from her.

_What the fuck._

She was still close enough for me to read her, and she was not a vampire. Why the hell couldn't I read her? _Could she be…?_

I took my phone out of my pocket and texted Carlisle. This was a problem.

_Swan girl has protection spell on her. Want me to pull out?_

I suddenly felt vulnerable. Exposed. I was out in the sunlight, alone, with no weapons on me. I hadn't brought one with me because I didn't think I'd be facing any danger on a high school campus, but apparently I was wrong. My phone went off and I opened the text.

_Come back immediately. This is a problem._

**Isabella Swan**

The day couldn't have been going any better. Everyone was being really nice to me, and not just because I was new and they felt bad for me. I liked the people here; maybe it was the small student body or maybe it was just the location, but everyone here was just…_better._ Not that I didn't have good friends in Arizona that I loved to death, but a lot of the people I'd known there had never been like the people in Forks. I could only remember Jacob from the last time I was here, as well as some of the younger kids that I'd known. I hadn't seen any of them around, but it had been eight years. There was no saying that they should all still be here. But who the hell knew.

It was getting close to the end of 5th period, which meant that lunch would be right around the corner. I was excited to see my new friends from this morning; I had only seen Jessica, who was in my Pre-Calculus class. I hated math with a burning passion, so I was happy to have her in there to cheer me up. Not that I was going to turn depressed over math, but it would make the class much more bearable.

The bell rang and the class almost stampeded to the door. I was waiting for Jessica to get her stuff together when I abruptly realized that I'd get to see Edward and talk with him. My mood spiked higher and I really couldn't wait.

Jessica got her backpack situated and we began to walk. "So," she said, "what do you think of the new guy?" she asked. I wanted to laugh, because I'd just been thinking about him, but it wasn't surprising that any female, and some males, were thinking about him.

"I didn't really get to talk to him this morning, but he said he'd be here at lunch. He's kind of quiet. But I'm hoping he talks more" I told her.

"Well, he's certainly attractive" said Jessica. This time I did laugh. "I can't deny that" I told her. He really was. I laughed with her but secretly I felt closer to him than she was because he and I were both new. But she was allowed to be attracted to him. Right?

Jess and I walked through the courtyard and into the cafeteria. "We sit over there. It's the first day so everyone is in line. It'll be a while before the lines are short enough to wait in" Jess told me. I didn't really care; I wasn't all that hungry and I'd rather be talking to Edward and getting to know him more than eating.

I saw that he wasn't at the table with everyone else and I was a little let down, but I figured that he would probably be here soon enough. Angela was in line talking with another girl. In fact, it was just Mike sitting at the table. I put my backpack down and grabbed the nearest chair. Mike straightened up in his chair and started fussing over his shirt and his hair. I wasn't paying enough attention to him to care why he was. I hoped he didn't like me, because I wasn't interested. He was handsome and all but I wasn't going to get into a relationship while I was in Forks.

I'd learned my lesson in Phoenix.

"So Bella, how have your classes been so far?" asked Mike. He was leaning forward toward me and he had a hilarious smirk on his face, the kind of smirk that made him look like he believed he was God's greatest gift to all women on Earth. Jessica was off to the side on her phone. Which left me with him. Alone. _Oh, dear…_

"Fine. Jess is in my math class. I'm happy about that" I said. "And my government teacher, Mr. Jefferson, is cool" I added. I loved government; I was taking AP Comparative Government this year and I was psyched. Political science was my best subject and my favorite.

Mike barked a laugh. "Yeah, Jefferson was cool until he failed me. I took his class last year and he really shafted me." I didn't really appreciate Mike's attitude, but I didn't want to judge him too quickly. "Why did he fail you?" I asked. It was a stupid question, because Mike had obviously just not tried hard enough, but I wanted to be polite.

"He didn't like me. I didn't do any of his papers because they were bullshit topics and I didn't see eye to eye with him. At all." Mike looked like he was actually mad. I guess he felt like he'd been in the right by failing or something.

"Oh. Well, that really sucks. I guess I won't cross him" I said. Mike was kind of a jackass.

Jess came and sat with us and got comfortable. "So," she started, "do you feel like running for the hills yet?" she asked. I giggled and nodded my head. "Yes, absolutely. This place totally stinks. I don't even like any of my new friends" I said teasingly. She pretended to look hurt while Mike stared at me with that same stupid smirk on his face.

Angela came to the table with a girl who had blonde hair and some insanely perfect curves. "Hey guys. Lauren, Bella. Bella, Lauren" she said. I smiled at her and waved. She winked at me and both of them sat down.

"So where's the other newbie. I figured he'd be here by now" said Angela. Lauren cocked an eyebrow at her.

"There's another new kid, His name is Edward. He's freaking gorgeous" said Jessica. Lauren looked mildly surprised. "I guess Forks is having a population explosion" she said. I laughed at the quip but I was honestly afraid that Edward might not show.

"Bella, do you have his number?" asked Angela. They all seemed interested in him being there so they could get to know him better. I was happy that they wanted him around, because I know I did.

My phone went off as if commanded to do so at Angela's mention of a phone and I jumped. "No, I don't. I shoulda gotten it from him" I said. I looked at my phone and opened a text from…Jacob!

_Are you okay? _it read

_Yeah. I'm fine. Why? And you never text me you jerk. We need to hang out._

It was a weird thing to ask but he was probably just worried that my first day wasn't going well. I'd tacked on my little complaint because we actually did need to hang out. We'd hung out the weekend before last, but the weekend before school started, he'd told me that he was really busy with some family emergency. I was concerned about what had happened but if it was major he would have told me.

"Who ya textin'?" asked Mike.

"My friend Jacob. I've known him since I was little." He looked taken aback.

"Wait, so you've lived here? Like, before now?" asked Jessica. I nodded. "I moved away when I was nine to live with my mom when my parents divorced. I moved back because my mom remarried a minor league baseball player and he travels a lot."

Everyone at the table looked fascinated. "Wait," said Lauren, "why did you come back? You couldn't go with your mom and her new husband?"

"I moved back because I like it here better. Me and my dad get along better than me and my mother. I couldn't move back sooner because she'd gotten full custody, but when she met Phil she decided that he was more important than I was. It's cool though. It let me come back home." I hoped I didn't come off as bitchy or melodramatic; it was just the truth of things. I had missed time with my father, but I was young and he was young enough that we could make up for time lost. It was a little depressing to think of the years we hadn't had, but it wouldn't change anything to think about it.

"That's wild. At least you're happy though" said Lauren. Everyone agreed and I smiled. It was true; Phoenix had tested my patience and I had never liked living there. I had been home for a few weeks and it was like I'd been relieved of a great stress or burden.

My phone went off again and Angela started telling some story of her own about her French teacher.

_We will hang out. I'm just caught up in family drama. Glad you're doing good._

Jacob is so weird. I texted him back a happy face and paid attention to Angela's rant about how her French teacher had a terrible French accent and how the class would be a joke because of it. I looked around the cafeteria and didn't see any sign of Edward.

I frowned internally and realized that Biology would suck. I'd be with Mike in that class and he'd probably want to sit next to me. That would be joyous; he'd be hitting on me while I vomited in my mouth. Jessica leaned over to me.

"It won't be so bad" she whispered. "He's kind of conceited but he's got a big heart." I was a little taken aback.

"How did you know…?" She cut me off.

"You were giving him a look. I didn't really like him much when I first met him but he's so sweet. You'll see." I trusted her, because she knew him better than I did. Still, biology would be a drag without Edward. I had been looking forward to seeing him.

**Edward Cullen**

When I entered the house, everyone was in the living room. Emmet and Rose were sitting on the love seat together; she look relieved when I came in and she jumped up to hug me when I stepped into the room. I knew they had all been worried about me. Rose's blond hair fanned out all over me when she grasped me and I smelled the expensive conditioner in her hair. Rosalie is a knockout; six feet tall and stunningly beautiful. She was just nineteen when she'd been turned in 1920, so she was at the height of her youth and would be for eternity. Her big brown eyes were misty and I knew she'd been worried sick.

Everyone had.

She released me and stepped out of the way so Alice could get her turn. Alice is a tiny thing; the top of her head barely reached my chin when she practically threw herself on me. Apparently Carlisle had alerted everyone when I'd told him that the Swan girl had a protection spell on her.

Alice squeezed the holy hell out of me, but that was how she was. Alice and I are close. I mean, _all _of us are close, but Alice and I have a special connection. When I was turned in 1841, Alice had only been a vampire for a year and she'd been the one who had helped me through the transition from human life to vampire life. Alice was his first progeny, but I had followed close behind. Of course Carlisle was there for both of us and he was undoubtedly a father to us, not just our maker. But having someone there who was going through what I was going through had made Alice and I inseparable. I brushed back her spikey black hair kissed her on the forehead.

Esme was next. She was the most worried; she was crying when she pulled me into her arms. I wasn't at all upset at how worried they'd been. I just wished I hadn't caused them so much grievance. Esme sobbed in earnest and buried her head in my chest. After about a minute Esme let me go and my brothers both pulled me into a group bear hug. I had to admit, I was relieved to be back at the house with my family. Emmet's massive body and Jasper's powerful arms crushed me to them and I returned the brotherly embrace. I knew they had wanted to come after me and back me up, but in the daylight a werewolf with a nine could take out all of us.

Being alone in the daylight with a spell on the Swan girl meant that there could be a werewolf anywhere, and I'd be helpless to do anything if one of them took a shot at me or attacked me in great numbers. It had taken a lot for them to stay in the house and wait for me. Besides being slobbering mongrels with no regard for human or vampire life, werewolves were mystics. They were all endowed with shamanistic abilities, the same shamanistic abilities that had given them the powers to turn into wolves in the first place.

My brothers eventually took their seats, Jasper with Alice on the couch next to Esme and Carlisle, and Emmet with Rose back to the love seat. Carlisle was furiously flipping through an old leather-bound book.

I sat in the chair facing the couch; we were all situated around the coffee table, which had more books scattered about on it.

Carlisle looked up from his book and stopped turning pages. He looked gravely wounded, like he'd just heard that his son had died.

"Edward…I'm sorry. I didn't think that something like this would happen. I shouldn't have sent you alone. I-"

"It's okay. I promise, it is. I don't think anyone could have anticipated this. It would have been perfectly safe, but this is obviously something that no one could have guessed would come up" I told him. He had no reason to be sorry; Carlisle would never have knowingly sent me out into so much danger had he known.

He looked relieved, but I could tell that he'd beat himself up over it. Besides the fact that Carlisle is the most compassionate person I know besides Esme, he is my maker, and the fact that his progeny had been in danger would bother him for a while.

"I've been reading through the histories; the spell doesn't wear off, so there is no telling how long she has been under werewolf protection. The only conclusion that we can reasonably draw is that it was put on her without her knowing it" said Carlisle. We all knew that the protection spell meant that a very old werewolf was watching over Bella; as soon as I tried to invade her thoughts, the wolf that had placed the spell on her would feel my mental meddling and alert the pack. That was why I'd had to leave the school immediately. There could have been wolves all over the school waiting for a vampire to try and reach into her mind so that they could kill the vampire when it was in the sun and too weak to fight back.

"This is bad" said Jasper. "If the Quileutes are protecting her, they know that she must know something about the pack that would be bad if it fell into vampire hands."

"How long does protection magic last, Carlisle?" asked Alice.

"Until the wolf who placed it on her dies, if Bella dies, or if Bella is turned into a vampire" said Carlisle.

Everyone in the room let out a defeated sigh. Either we turned Bella, which would be a horrible thing to do to an innocent human girl, or we abandoned the plan to use her as a way into the Quileute tribe. Which was not an option, because they would entirely disappear and God only knew what would come of that once they resurfaced. If the war calmed down, it meant that it was going to turn ugly soon, and we wouldn't be letting that happen.

"So we do nothing" I said. "If the wolf that placed the magic on Bella tells Sam Uley that a vampire tried to read her mind, he won't be surprised because he knows that she is the only human that we know of who is close to them. He would also have no reason to hide, because he would know that we have no other way of finding him because we would have tried already if we had the ability to. The only thing he can't control is us turning her, but even if we do, he probably has a plan in place in the event that whatever information she has is compromised."

It was a very difficult place to be in. Protection magic meant that Sam Uley had personally used one of his oldest cohorts to place the spell on her; protection magic is traceable to the spell caster. The wolf who had performed the spell would feel vampire influence. If there were any werewolves nearby Bella, they could be alerted and kill the vampire, wherever he or she was.

"We need to form a coherent plan. We need to get our information straight. Bella has protection magic on her, so we can't read her mind to see what she knows. That means we can't get any information on the whereabouts of the Quileutes. The Quileutes are sure to go into hiding soon with the murder of Jeremiah Fawkes. So, we need to find new intel to track the Quileutes, turn Bella, or let them go into hiding and plan accordingly" said Carlisle. He was a wreck with me being in so much danger this morning and he was obviously not happy that such an unexpected, and annoying, twist had ruined his plans.

"Why don't we just track her at night" suggested Rosalie. "She's sure to hang out with this wolf at one point or another at night. We can follow her and see where they wind up."

"But that isn't good enough" I said. "Even if we knew where they were, and even if the sun was down, they would eventually leave whatever location we followed them to because of what Carlisle just said: they're going to go into hiding. We can't get more vampires here fast enough to attack them in numbers."

Everyone was staring off into space at this point. We'd seemingly reached a dead end. What the hell were we going to do? We had hit such a huge lead with the discovery of the list, and already the plan was falling through. We would either wipe the wolves off of the west coast for good, or we'd cripple them and they'd come right back like the goddamned plague.

"There is a way" said Carlisle. Everyone turned to face him.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting for Carlisle to respond, he spoke up. "If one of us feeds her our blood, we will have a mental link with her that will bypass the protection magic. Blood bonds can bypass any wolf magic."


	3. Chapter 3

**Edward Cullen **

I solemnly shook my head. "Carlisle, a blood bond won't be enough. Just knowing where she is isn't going to help us. We know where the Quileutes are already-" Carlisle raised his hand to stop me.

"We know where they are, but not where they're going. If we can keep Bella tied to one of us, we can observe her from afar. If she is kept in close ranks with the Quileutes, she will be around them after they've begun the relocation process. We can see where it is they are hiding and go after them there." He had sound logic, except for one issue.

"What happens if they don't keep her informed? What happens if they give her some garbage excuse to keep her unsuspecting and go into hiding without communicating with her?" I didn't like arguing with my father, but this girl had become the crux of our success or failure in the war, and our best plan was something that might never come to fruition.

"They can't. She has vital intel that they are obviously protecting, so theoretically they would want to keep their one vulnerability close at hand. When the Quileutes go into hiding, they will keep contact with her to ensure that her life is proceeding normally. The wolves know that a vampire turning her will break the spell they've placed on her, so they may actually increase the security around her. But regardless, they will be keeping her within their reach." Carlisle had delivered both good and bad news; the plan could still work, but it would be even more dangerous for us.

Carlisle had a point, but there was still one issue. If the Quileutes kept in touch with her but never actually brought her with them to wherever it is they decided to relocate, the entire plan would fall through.

"It will only take Bella one trip to the Quileutes' new hideout. One trip, and we'll know exactly where she goes" said Carlisle. I had my reservations about that 'one trip' ever happening, but anything was possible and for the sake of the war, we would all have to have a little faith that it would happen.

Everyone looked at one another for a moment before they all slowly turned to look at me. Everyone except for Carlisle. He was looking out the window that was opposite him and Esme on the couch. He already knew that I would volunteer to do it, because I'd seen the girl once already and I'd established my disguise as a student at Forks High. He already knew that I would volunteer to do it because the war was more than just a war to me. It always had been.

"I'll do it" I said. Nothing more needed to be spoken, because everyone in the room knew how difficult it would be to suffer a blood bond with a human.

"Edward, you'll be a wreck! You'll be torn apart by her emotions interfering with your own. You won't be able to function with part of you in her. Edward, this is not smart." Alice shook with conviction and her eyes were growing misty again. I walked over to her and gently urged her to sit with me.

"No, Edward, I'm serious. This is not a good plan. You could go mad from this. Blood bonds are a part of turning humans, not some brilliant strategy to winning the war!" She was nearly shouting at this point. Jasper grasped her hand and tried consoling her while she stared at Carlisle with bald fury. Carlisle knew exactly what he was suggesting I do, and Alice wouldn't forgive him if I got hurt because of it. Her maker or not, he wouldn't escape her contempt for this if it didn't end well.

I saw Alice's point, but there was no other way that this could work. I had to get to Sam Uley and whoever M. Richter was if the vampires would make any progress. For nearly three thousand years the wolves and the vampires had been at war, and finally, _finally,_ the opportunity for victory had appeared. I wasn't going to be robbed of the chance to have a part in that. Even if I died for it.

Emmet stood up. "Alice is right. You couldn't take on a wolf with the human girl taxing your mind and your body so much." I glared at him and flashed forward to where he was standing, meeting him nose to nose. My fangs punched out of my upper jaw and I growled low in my throat.

"You think I can't handle myself against the wolves just because I'll be bonded to a human? I've killed _thousands_ of those drooling animals, and I'll kill thousands more with my blood in her." Emmet's face grew hard and he clenched his fists, meeting my aggression head on. He leaned forward until our foreheads were touching.

"I'm not doubting you or your strength, I'm fucking watching out for you. You think I want you to wind up with a stake through your heart because of this little girl? It's not about you, so back off." Rose and Esme got between us, Esme facing me and Rose facing Emmet. It was rare that any of us really fought, but if it was ever going to happen, now was the time.

My fangs retracted and I let out a deep breath. Everyone in the room was standing now, even Carlisle. Emmet was younger than I, but he was stronger. He was far stronger than his age should have afforded him; he had been born in 1890 and turned in 1911. And still, he had an absolute overload of physical strength, enough to challenge vampires older than he. Including myself.

"Boys," said Carlisle, "we can't let this divide us. I know you're all worried about Edward, but he's right. His talent in fighting and his will can see him through. But if not him, one of us. Otherwise we let the wolves go into hiding and we form a new plan entirely. So what will it be?" He was being perfectly reasonable, and the rhetorical question went unanswered. Emmet's aggression bled out of him and he sat down, letting Rose quell him into tranquility. Alice sat down with Jazz. Esme gave me a sympathetic look and joined Carlisle on the couch, where he had retaken his position flipping through his books. I sat down next to Alice and put my head in my hands.

A blood bond is the first step a vampire takes to turn a human. When a vampire drinks human blood, he or she is sustained with the addition of normal food. Vampires need both to survive. But when a human drinks vampire blood, something else entirely happens. I would feel Bella's emotions as clearly as I felt my own; I would know wherever she was, no matter how far away from me she went. She would also become loyal to me, though the loyalty would be latent and come out at the most random of times. If Bella died with my blood in her, she would turn. So not only would I essentially be ripped in half between her heart and my own, but she was one step away from becoming my progeny.

"I'm going to do it. I know it'll be hard, but I have to. This isn't about me." Rose looked like she was gearing up to put in her two cents, so I put up my hand to stop her. "I mean it. Better men have died for less. If we want to be free of the wolves, if we ever want to win, these are the kinds of sacrifices that have to be made." Rose's face softened. She spoke up, quietly, not incited at all with emotion. "If you do this, you have to agree that you won't go looking for a fight with any wolves at night. It'll be hard enough trying to deal with her interference, but fighting while under such stress could end in disaster. Please. If you want to talk of sacrifice, then make that sacrifice too." Her plead was enormous, because asking me not to fight was like telling the sun not to rise.

Jasper spoke up. "She's right, Edward. If you go out there at night and get jumped by a wolf who knows how to fight, it'll only take one emotional collision to kill you. We know you can handle yourself. But this is something that isn't affected by character or strength. It's biology. It can't be beaten or ignored." His calm, matter-of-fact tone made me want to throw the coffee table through the wall.

"I hear you. Yeah. Fine. I won't fight while she and I are bonded. As soon as she shows us where the Quileutes are hiding, I'll cease feeding her and the blood will pass out of her system. The bond will fade away and I'll go back to normal. I promise." Alice visibly relaxed. Carlisle closed his book and returned it to the pile on the coffee table.

"So the question is, how do you feed her" said Emmet. His compliance with the plan was his form of a silent apology to me; I acknowledged it with a subtle nod of my head. "I can still go back in time to see her in class" I said. I wasn't sure exactly how I'd feed her my blood in a biology classroom full of human teenagers, but there had to be a way.

"That isn't going to work. There's no way it can happen today. You'll have to do it tomorrow when you eat lunch with her" said Rose. I looked at her and then spoke. "That'll be best, I suppose." I stood up. "I have a few hours before I need to be back. I'm going to go crash." As I turned to go upstairs to my room, Carlisle called out to me.

"Edward, when you go back…make sure you're armed. It's worth the risk of getting caught. Losing you…that's never going to be worth anything." He looked devastated again, the way he looked when I'd first stepped into the house. I nodded and went upstairs.

**Isabella Swan**

Lunch ended with me thinking over Jessica's words of wisdom about Mike. I wasn't sure why she told me that Mike was a good person; maybe she was honestly trying to defend him. I guessed that Mike had been there for Jessica during some difficult time in her life and she felt obliged to put in good word for him. But who knew. I'd be fair for now and see what happened.

I walked to Biology with hopes that Edward would be there when I walked in. Mike was chattering away about his plans for the weekend when I walked in to see a room without Edward in it. The classroom had black desks, the kind used in labs. It was two people to a desk, and I knew instantly that Mike would insist on sitting next to me. _It might not be so bad. Give him a chance. _My internal chiding calmed me briefly and I looked behind me to see if Mike was still there.

Mike was there. And so was Edward Cullen. He was standing behind Mike and looking right at me. Where the hell had he come from?

Did I really care?

My heart skipped a beat and I smiled, so happy to see that he was here. He was a head taller than Mike and he gestured to an empty desk in the back of the classroom behind his back. I nodded and made a beeline for the desk. Edward got there at the same time I did and pulled my chair out for me. _Wow. Okay. Swoon_. "Oh, thank you!" I told him. I watched him take his seat next to me and I lingered on him longer than I should have, drawn into his blue eyes. They were like sapphires in white porcelain.

"Sorry I wasn't at lunch today. I was called into guidance to settle some enrollment issue and they took the whole lunch period" he said. He was turned toward me in his chair. I mirrored his pose.

"It's okay. Everyone was wondering where you were. I thought you might have gone running for the hills after this morning" I said. He laughed; it was a heavenly sound, with a slight masculine husk that was incredibly sexy. "I was hoping I'd be out in time, but they kept me so long. It's like they knew that I wanted to see you and everyone else" he said. Maybe I was imagining it, but it felt like he'd tacked on the 'and everyone else' as an afterthought. Maybe it was just me wanting to hear it that way.

The teacher entered the room and began his first-day-of-the-year lecture, telling us all about how he graded and what we could expect during the semester. I'd heard five similar lectures so far today, but I didn't hear a word of Mr. Banner's. I was focused on Edward, who was idly going through the textbook for the class. I was holding my glance at him a little too long, because when he glanced over at me he met my eyes and I look away, turning bright red. _Busted._ I risked a second glance at him anyway to see his reaction. He was smiling sheepishly, obviously having felt like he'd been the one to get caught. He looked to the front of the room and I did the same, wishing he was closer to me.

Mr. Banner was still jabbering when the bell rang to dismiss us to our last class. Edward stood up but didn't move. I was still seated and packing up my things when I noticed him standing by the desk. "Oh, you don't have to wait if I'm going to make you late" I said, secretly hoping that he waited anyway.

"I'm fine. I'd rather walk you to class anyway" he said. He smiled the _most_ adorable smile I'd ever seen. It was a crooked smile that showed straight, super white teeth. I felt my heart start racing just a bit. I got my things in order and got up to walk. I was enjoying walking next to him way too much, but I didn't really care. "So," he said, "where are you off to?" I looked at my schedule and groaned when I saw "GYM" printed as the location of my last class, Personal Fitness I. "Gym", I said with undisguised bitterness. I was slender and I had a figure, but I was not an athlete in the slightest. I was terrible with sports and I loathed team sports, because I was always the worst player. Edward laughed. "You sound very excited about that" he mused, flashing his amazing smile once more.

"Oh, you'd probably be _good _at sports. I'm everyone's last pick for good reason. I'm more danger to my own team than I am to the other." He nodded his head. "So, needless to say, you'll be skipping that class a lot?" he asked.

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Oh, no, I'd be way too scared to risk getting caught. And I don't know who I'd skip with anyway." It was true. I had skipped a class or two back in Phoenix and gotten busted every time. After a few detentions and groundings from Mom, I had given up trying. As we approached the gym, I cursed the school's campus for being so small and not giving me more time to walk with Edward. We stopped near the entrance to the gym and stepped off to the side.

"Well, if you ever want to skip, just shoot me a text and we can find better things to do." He winked and my heart stopped beating. In my moment of temporary death, I realized that I didn't have his number.

"That sounds like it'd be awesome…but I don't have your number-" he cut me off by handing me a black smartphone with a new contact screen pulled up. I smiled at him and began entering my name and number. I handed him the phone back and my hand brushed his; his skin was warm. I let my hand stay there, and eventually let the phone drop into his palm. He pocketed the phone and looked into the gym. "I hate to say it, but I think we have to go to class now." He looked genuinely let down by this fact and it was flattering as hell. "So…I'll see you tomorrow morning?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'll be in the courtyard where we were this morning. But I'll text you later so you have my number and you can call me if you can't find me." I turned to walk into the gym and gave one last look over my shoulder. "Well, bye for now I guess." I didn't want to leave.

He gave me a parting gesture and walked away. I already wanted it to be tomorrow morning.

**Edward Cullen**

Leaving Bella at the gym was kind of a buzz kill, because now I was left to go to some mundane math class that would probably bore me into a slumber even though I'd just woken up. I'd gotten up in time to make it to my 6th period class and catch Bella at the beginning of class. Getting close to her was turning out to be easier than I'd originally thought, and I kind of liked being around her. Maybe it was because I didn't spend a lot of time around humans and she was intriguing to me, or maybe it was because I had spent the last one hundred and seventy years fighting and it was nice to take a goddamned breather. The truth was, though, that I didn't want to stop fighting. The war was literally all I had known since I was turned, and I would likely die before it came to an end.

Bella was honestly good company to keep. She was obviously interested in me, and she'd be disappointed when I suddenly disappeared after she revealed the location of the Quileutes, but for now I would enjoy the job I'd been assigned. I wanted to leave the school, but it would cause trouble with the humans if I only appeared in Bella's class, so I had to play my part and play it well. I grabbed out my phone and shot Bella a text so she would have my number.

_Hey you. It's Edward. You have my number now, so you can happily blow up my phone :)_

I nearly puked at being so happy-cutesy, but it was part of the disguise. I pocketed my phone started heading in the proper direction for math when it hit me.

A wave of light dizziness swept over me and I almost stumbled. I felt my stomach call out to me with a subtle wrench. The feeling passed, and then came back twice as intensely. My vision began to blur every time my heart beat. My fangs throbbed in my mouth and started unsheathing involuntarily…

And then it disappeared. It didn't come back and I regained my composure. My vision returned to normal and my stomach felt better, but I knew that this was trouble.

I needed blood. Soon. I hadn't fed for at least three weeks and I had been out in the sunlight long enough that my body was starting to demand it. Blood cravings start off light and sporadically, and progress until they become a constant pain that demands attention and satisfaction.

When Carlisle turned all of us, he had taught us all self-control as far as our hunting of humans and our craving for blood. All vampires must feed from humans; animal and werewolf blood are too weak.

I hoped that my body would last fifty more minutes until this class was over. I felt fine, and I had gone longer without feeding. But murdering a human and sucking them dry in a school full of witnesses was not an option, so I had to be careful.

The class was just as boring as I'd figured it would be. I knew everything the teacher knew; I had read his mind and discovered that he was a very absent minded man, with more of an attention span for the woman he was cheating on his wife with than the class he was supposed to be conducting. He spent most of the lecture going over the syllabus and telling us what to expect as far as grades. I didn't pay a bit of attention as I thought about how the plan was going to play out. I was concerned about how long the blood bond with Bella would last once I forged it, and how long I would have to endure the hardships it would bring, but I was willing to go through with it. The emotional fissures would be random and weak at first, with her emotions interfering with mine every so often. They would gradually increase as time went on and eventually I would be in a constant state of war with my emotions and Bella's.

It would be a living hell after about three months. After six, I would probably be driven insane.

The bell rang and I moved as fast as I could while still looking human to leave. I had driven my black Volvo to the school; no need to draw too much attention to myself with the Vanquish. I broke the speed limit into pieces as I drove back to the house to get my shit together to go out tonight. I needed to feed.

Carlisle taught us to hunt with discretion, to leave minimal collateral damage, to go after those who would be missed the least if we were going to kill them. We didn't have to kill the people we fed on; our influence on the human mind isn't limited to mind reading. By nature, by some twisted tool of evolution, we can erase human memories. We can feed on a human and leave them thinking that nothing happened at all.

It's a powerful skill, one that has to be used sparingly, because a human who has his or her memories fucked with too much will eventually suffer complete mental degradation and slip into a permanent catatonic state. Werewolves are immune to memory alteration because, as mystics, they can easily protect their own memories. They couldn't extend the spell to humans; it was a wolf-only proposition. Protection against mind reading is not, however, which is such a pain in the ass; protection magic will also protect a human's memories from being fucked with. It was a blessing that protection magic is so complex and difficult to successfully carry out.

I arrived at the house in record time and flashed to the front door. No one was in the living room, but everyone was here. I heard Carlisle in his study, rustling about in what sounded like papers or books. Rose and Emmet were in the garage. Alice was taking a shower. Jazz was sleeping. Esme was in her room writing. I went upstairs to my room and felt my phone go off. It was a text. From Bella.

_I think I'll take you up on that offer sometime._

I wanted to laugh. I was preparing to go prey on an unsuspecting human tonight to drink their blood, and I was getting texts from a human teenager? God, this couldn't be real. I kept a blank text open while I put my .45 on the desk next to my laptop. It was the gun I'd taken off of the wolf I'd killed; it was a nice piece, with hand-carved wood grips. A hell of a trophy.

I didn't know what to say back to Bella, so I pocketed my phone and turned on some Debussy.

It helps me think.

I sat down on my bed and thought about my next step. Feeding Bella Swan. I needed to be around her in a setting with food. Rose had suggested lunch at school, which wasn't such a bad idea. But how could I do it? If I scored my own flesh in the daylight, the wound wouldn't heal until nightfall, and I couldn't walk around bleeding all over. I would need to bring a small vial of my own blood to the school and slip it into her food somehow. I couldn't force feed her and erase her memories, because the protection magic on her would be triggered again.

I would mix it into a dark drink and offer her some. It was a really weak plan, but if it failed I would have to just find another way. Part of me was apprehensive about this blood bond, it but was the only choice we had.

Part of me was anxious for the war to just come to an end.

I was _tired._ Tired of worrying about my siblings, my parents, by kind, being threatened by the wolves. Tired of fighting, tired of waking up and knowing that the wolves were still out there.

I was tired of the war.


	4. Chapter 4

**Isabella Swan**

I laid in bed and stared at my phone for an eternity, wanting to talk to him, afraid that he didn't want to talk to me. I had typed out several text messages to him, only to delete them all and close the blank text in frustration, wishing that this were easier.

Wishing _what _was easier, though? He was sweet, especially considering the fact that he'd just met me, so what was there to be afraid of?

But still, the idea of ruining a perfect opportunity, the idea of jumping the gun and reading too much into things scared me enough to keep me from texting Edward Cullen. I debated with myself until it was well past midnight, and finally I sank into sleep.

I don't sleep well. I've always been a sketchy sleeper, not quite an insomniac, but almost there.

I woke to the screeching of the alarm clock at 6:30, groping blindly to shut it off before it deafened me completely. I sleepily stepped into the shower and instantly fell in love with the hot water, because it was a very cold and dark morning, with stormy rain clouds blanketing the sky as far as the eye could see.

Not that you can see much past all the tree tops, but still.

I came down the stairs dressed and awake. I was used to getting up early; I was used to getting up at 5 a.m., because I'd had to take the bus in Phoenix. Now that I was allowed to drive myself, I got more sleep. Charlie was up already and going through the motions to leave himself. He was watching the weather; it would be dark and cold all day. I was entirely unsurprised, but I didn't mind it. The cold could be bothersome once in a while but I preferred it to Phoenix.

Charlie had asked me about my first day yesterday and he had been pleased to hear that I was doing well. When I told him about Edward Cullen he'd been shocked to hear that there was someone new in town without him knowing it. He could tell that there was something up with him; that is, he knew that I liked Edward and he had reserved all rights to tease me about it.

"Mornin', Bells. Sleep well?" he asked. I shook my head as I poured some cereal.

"Not really. You know me, I never sleep" I responded honestly. I didn't mention that most of my time not spent sleeping was stressing over Edward.

Charlie frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we'll find a way for you to sleep better at night" he said. I laughed a little. "Like what?" I asked, curious if he was being serious.

"Well, we could invite Edward over to sing you lullabies" he said with a straight face.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, throwing a frosted mini-wheat at him, "I hardly know him! You'd let a total stranger come sing to your daughter at night?" He was trying to maintain his straight face, but I would break him. "That's not very responsible of you. What if he decides to chloroform me and sell me into some weird human trafficking network?" I was going a little overboard, but I wasn't going to laugh first.

He hadn't lost yet though. "Well, if he decides to go through with all of that, it looks like I'll be out of an easy tax write-off" he said with a simple shrug. I gave him my best injured expression, but he simply started putting on his gun belt and zipping up his jacket when I lost. A giggle came out of me and I let the laughter out. It was so nice to be able to banter with Charlie, rather than try to avoid the awkward, stiff conversations with my mother that always ended with either a fight or a guilt trip from her.

She tries too hard to parent. If she were here to hear about Edward Cullen, she would have already started yelling at me about practicing safe sex and not bringing a baby into the house.

Charlie said something about running late and scrambled to grab his keys and give me a hug. It was approaching seven; class started at eight, but I wanted to get there a little early to see Edward and everyone else. Not that he was my main motivation for leaving early.

I got in my truck after eating my cereal and hoped as I drove that Edward would be there before the bell rang; I didn't know if he drove himself to school or not, so there was no telling how long I'd get to see him, but he had told me that he'd see me, so I had that to look forward to, even if it was for a minute before the bell rang.

It took me about twenty minutes to get to the school. I pulled into the parking lot and saw about half of it was empty; I noticed a black Volvo parked in the back corner of the lot, away from everyone else. I parked close to campus and got out, remembering my way to the courtyard. I was there relatively quick; the campus wasn't exactly huge. The courtyard was dotted with people hanging around and eating breakfast. I looked toward where Eric had led me yesterday and saw no one.

Except Edward, who was sitting at the table in the middle of the quad, alone. It looked like Mike and everyone else didn't get to school so early.

I tried not to run to the table to be alone with him, so I settled for a hybrid of power walking and jogging.

He looked up from a journal he was writing in. _He writes? _I thought, surprised. He didn't appear to be the type who would, but I didn't know him and I guess that he didn't really have a stereotype.

Well, except for hot guy who is unexpectedly sweet.

He smiled that smile, that crooked smile, and my face lit up in response. "You're here early" I mused, sitting down across from him. He marked his page with a blue tassle and shut the journal.

"Well, I figured I would get more time with everyone if I got here earlier. And I wasn't sure if the drive here would take long." He leaned forward, toward me. "So tell me," he said, "did-"

From out of nowhere Mike appeared and, with all the grace of a Neanderthal, called out to me.

"Bella!" he said, throwing his backpack down on the table and sitting down next to me, turning toward me and pretending like Edward didn't exist. "What's up?" he asked, wearing a smug look.

I was just a little irritated. I'd wanted to talk to Edward, and as much as I valued making new friends, Mike was appearing to be a pain in the ass and a prick.

"Edward and I were just talking…" I trailed off, looking at Edward to see if he'd speak up. I was internally hoping that Edward wasn't going to let himself be outspoken by Mike.

Edward was staring right at Mike, his eyes slightly narrowed, his lips set in just the slightest kind of smile. I wasn't sure what was amusing him so much, but I didn't look back at Mike, hoping Edward would say something.

"Yeah. Bella just got here. Have you been here this whole time Mike?" Edward asked, his tone inquisitive, almost condescendingly so.

When I looked back at Mike, he looked very confused and his expression was far away from the smug 'I am a gift to all women on Earth' face he'd had on just a second before. His eyes had turned somewhat glassy and he opened his mouth wordlessly.

What the hell? I looked at Edward, who was still focused on Mike.

"I ah…I don't know. I guess?" said Mike, who was looking around like he had just now become aware of where he was.

"Hey guys!" said a chipper female voice behind me. I turned and saw Jessica walking towards us. Mike looked at her in a complete stupor and stood up.

"Hello Jessica" Edward said with total ease, polite and friendly. "Hi Jess" I said, waving. I was still wondering what was wrong with Mike, but I didn't want to be rude.

"Mike, will you come with me while I get breakfast? I'm starving" said Jessica, putting her things down and looking at him expectantly. He looked at her with a thousand-yard-stare and then nodded, following her into the cafeteria.

Edward laughed as he watched them leave and looked at me. "What was _that?" _I asked, entirely lost as to what was going on with Mike and what Edward knew.

He shrugged. "I have no idea, but it was hilarious" he said, leaning toward me again. I was a little weirded out by the whole exchange, but it didn't matter now. "What were you saying before?" I asked, wanting to talk to him before Jess and Mike came back.

"I don't remember" said Edward, chuckling. "But I do know that I'd like to hang some time." My heart kicked into third gear. I wasn't sure how to respond, but I didn't want him to think I was shutting him down. Shutting him down wasn't an option.

"I'd love to! Maybe this weekend?" I asked, not wanting to push too hard and figuring that he or I would be busy as the week went on.

"That sounds good. Friday?" he asked with a hopeful expression. _How about right now? We can skip all our classes and just talk _I said mentally.

"Sure. Text me?" I said, feeling like I'd end up chickening out if it were up to me to contact him. Knowing me, I probably would.

He nodded and produced a bottle of soda from his backpack. I was mentally thinking of things to say to him to avoid an awkward silence while he unscrewed the lid and took a sip. "Want some?" he asked, gesturing to the soda.

I shook my head. "No thanks" I said, unable to look away from his eyes. They held me in captivity and I tried thinking of what I could say to him when I got a very, very bad idea.

"On Friday, do you want to come over? My dad knows everyone in the town and he'd like to meet you since you're new here." The words came out involuntarily. I tried not to say them, honestly I did. I had a minor freak-out while I considered what would happen if he said no.

He looked at me for a moment and his smile reappeared. "I absolutely would like to meet your father." While I let relief wash over me, I realized that I'd invited someone who was essentially a stranger to my house, but it didn't feel like it was a weird thing to do. He was new here. That, and having Edward Cullen in my house was something I was definitely okay with.

"We can meet up after 7th period that day and go" he suggested. I was glad he was able to make plans and that I didn't have to think of everything. I'd had boyfriends who were unable to do anything on their own. It can be infuriating.

"Sounds good. So, do you think they'll call you into the office again today?" I was trying not to reassure myself that I'd see him at lunch, but I failed miserably at the attempt. He smirked and shook his head. "They said I was all squared away. So I don't know, but I should see you at lunch today" he said. Not us, or everyone, but _me._ I let myself be giddy for a moment while I took that in and saw Jessica walking with Mike back to the table. My girly high subsided when I realized that I wouldn't get to be alone with him anymore, but it was important to build other friendships.

Except maybe Mike. Mike was being annoying.

Jessica sat down with a bagel and orange juice while Mike ran his mouth about some trip he was planning for the weekend. I saw Jessica glance at Edward while she fiddled with her orange juice trying to open it. Edward was looking at Mike again, with that same expression that wasn't quite concentrated and not quite amused; it was somewhere between the two.

"Well, we'll see if the weather is good. But it should be fine" Jessica said to Mike. She looked at me. "Are you going, Bella? We're all going to the beach on Saturday." I was a little surprised that I was invited, but I nodded my head. It wouldn't interfere with my plans with Edward, and it'd be nice; I didn't necessarily love the beach or anything, but I wanted to be closer with everyone.

"Good. How 'bout you Edward?" She was giving him way too much attention to justify the question; she had leaned toward him completely and she was using a tone that was far too sweet. He nodded. "I'm in." He glanced at me and smiled before looking back at her. She was pleased at that response, because her face lit up and she pulled out her phone. "I don't think I have either of your guys' numbers. Put them in so I can text you guys on Saturday." She handed Edward her phone and a scant bit of jealously flared up in me. I had no reason to feel that way, but I did.

Edward quickly put in his phone number and he handed me her phone. Maybe I was imagining it, but it seemed as if he let his hand brush against mine unnecessarily. I typed in my name and number and handed Jess her phone. Mike was rubbing his temples, his eyes shut, like his head hurt.

"You okay, Mike?" Edward asked. Mike nodded and spoke without opening his eyes. "I'm good. Yeah."

Angela and Eric arrived, giving Mike a weird look. Angela sat down next to me and Eric sat across from her. "Hey guys. Yo, Mike, you hung over?" Edward had his head down and he was on his phone doing something, but I saw him smirk.

"Nah, I'm cool, I'm just tired." Angela patted him on the shoulder and looked at me. "So are you going to the beach on Saturday?" I nodded and wondered how they had arranged this whole beach trip overnight.

"Did you guys plan this beach thing after school yesterday?" Edward asked. I was a little taken aback; we'd been thinking the same thing.

"No, we do it every year on the first weekend after school starts" said Eric. "You guys are a part of the tradition now" he. I liked Eric. He was good people, and he wasn't a pain in the ass, like certain people.

Jessica started talking about her English teacher that she already hated when the bell rang. Everyone stood up and started getting their stuff together when Mike spoke up. "So Bella, where's your first class?" I internally cringed and wished he'd give up. But, I had to be civil. "It's in the English building" I said, hoping his class was far away from mine. Like, in the parking lot.

He looked disappointed. "Oh. Mine's in the math building. That's cool." Jessica and him started talking to one another while Angela and Eric said bye and walked off together. Edward was giving Mike that look again. _Something is up with him _I thought.

Mike and Jessica waved at us and took off in another direction, leaving Edward and I alone again. Finally.

"So, are you actually going to the English building?" Edward asked with a smirk. I got worried.

"Is it that obvious that I don't want to be around him?" I asked, worried that I'd upset him or someone else. He shook his head. "No, but _I _can tell." He shrugged and changed the subject. "Well, I'm not eager to go to first period, so I'll walk you" he said.

"I don't want you to be late" I said sincerely. He gave a flippant wave of his hand. "I'll be there in plenty of time. I'm in the Language building. It's right next to the English building." He was right. I was happy about that, but wondered why I hadn't seen him walk that way yesterday. Maybe he'd gotten lost.

Still, I was happy. He started walking and I spoke up. "I don't hate Mike or anything, but he's barking up the wrong tree. I'm not into him" I said. I was making conversation, but I also wanted Edward to know that I wasn't interested in Mike.

_Not that you can really be with anyone. Not after Phoenix. _My heart sank to impossible depths and my mood instantly fell apart when I remembered. I'd been too caught up in my feelings to remember the past.

Edward couldn't be an exception to that, either. Could he?

He nodded his head. "He is kind of annoying. But who knows. We only just met him." I felt a rush of pleasure when he said 'we', but that feeling sank quickly when I returned to the nagging thoughts of last year.

We got to the English building quickly and I cursed the small campus. We stopped outside my class. "He'd be a lucky guy though. Anyway. I'll see you later?" he said, pulling me out of my rapid downward spiral. I nodded and smiled, because I hadn't missed what he said and it was definitely flattering. He walked away and I shuffled into the room, sitting down and shutting out the thoughts of my last relationship. The last time I'd given a part of myself to someone.

**Edward Cullen**

I left Bella and stepped outside. It was still dark; it would probably rain all day. I looked to my right at the Language building and spat a curse below my breath. This disguise was easy to maintain but painful to maintain. Seven classes of material I knew front and back, seven classes five days a week until we found what we were looking for.

_Think about the war. Think about the war. Think about the-_

The warning bell rang and I made my way into the Language building. In two minutes the tardy bell would ring and class would start. I thought about ditching, but the last thing I needed was to complicate matters by pissing off the human teachers and administrators.

I sat through a mind-numbingly boring French lesson and thought about Bella. I was doing my best to make her feel comfortable around me, and it wasn't taking much effort on my part. I liked her company, which is rare for me. I was born human in 1824 and turned in 1841, and with all of the humans I've spoken to in my life and with all of the things I've watched the human race do in one hundred and eighty seven years, very little about them captures my attention.

I'd hardly been around Bella up to this point but she was easy to be around and she was intriguing in the strangest of ways. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't read her and she had become a sort of forbidden fruit to me. Maybe it was because she was the key to a major victory in the war. Maybe it was because she was so different from all of the humans I'd come across in my years.

I spent the class going over how I was going to slip Bella my blood and take the next step. I had gotten hugely lucky with Bella inviting me to her home on Friday. I would have all week to try and forge the blood bond; I had failed this morning with the soda. I knew it had been a weak plan but it was worth a shot. I would do it somehow. I had to.

I thought more about how I'd conducted myself with Bella when I remembered Mike. I knew I shouldn't have erased his memories just to fuck with him, but he was getting in my way. His mind was so typical of boys his age that I didn't feel too bad about it. His thoughts about Bella were vile, well beyond the soft-core pornography stage. I'd scrubbed his memories from him waking up right to that moment in the courtyard, so he was very confused about how he'd gone from laying down the night before and winding up in school the next day. I was amused, though it wasn't really fair for me to meddle with his head.

He deserved it. Bella was better than the garbage he had in mind for her.

It had been a bit of an effort on my part. It was still daytime, even though the sun was taking a short vacation behind many storm clouds. I hadn't fed last night like I'd planned to. I'd sat with Carlisle and talked about what came after we found the Quileutes. He confirmed what I'd originally thought. Sam Uley was our target, but he was a special case.

We were going to try to take him alive.

It was unlikely that Sam Uley had protection magic on him. Protection magic being so powerful and difficult to master, even a state pack leader like him wouldn't be so heavily protected. After we'd gotten as much information out of him as possible through torture, we would take him to a preplanned location and attempt to reach into his mind. If we met resistance from protection magic, we would put a bullet in his head and disappear.

Carlisle, being 437 years old, is a veteran of the war and there is little he hasn't seen or done in the world, and he absolutely was used to the horrors and atrocities that accompanied war. But still, this violence, the things we would do to Sam Uley… it bothered him. He had been a leader in the war for almost his entire life, and he has always hated the bloodshed. He fights the war out of necessity. He'd just as soon sign an armistice, but he has his family to think of. Sometime I feel guilty, because he doesn't enjoy the things he sends us to do, particularly me. He brushes it off and he likes to pretend like he's gotten used to it, but it was obvious that it was something he would never be okay with. Carlisle would never come to believe in violence as a choice. For him, it had never been a choice and it never would be until the wolves were gone for good.

I looked at my phone and saw that class was far from over. I hoped that I could get things moving by Friday and that I would be gone soon. This wasn't my first time in disguise as a human, and it would only be a matter of time before I started to miss the hunt. The thrill of stalking my victim, of the ambush and the fight, of the kill.

My phone vibrating broke me out of my revere and I saw a text from Bella.

_I don't think I can handle gym today. You told me to text you if I ever wanted something better to do, so this is me texting you._

I felt a small glimmer of pleasure pass through me as I texted her back telling her that I was in. Only because it would be something to do. I would skip my last class to spend time with her, so I could get closer to her and perfect my strategy.

That was all.

The day dragged on at an incredibly slow pace. I impatiently sat through four more classes after French and waited for the lunch period to arrive. I spent most of the time wondering how the human race would ever accomplish much more in the future with the way teachers taught, but I was probably in no place to judge.

I've been through school a time or two.

It wasn't all bad. When my math class ended I stepped out into a moderate rain. It was cold, and the wind combined with the cold felt sublime. I've always been partial to the cold.

I made my way through the rain and into the cafeteria. I saw Bella and Jessica seated there. Her human friends, excluding Mike, were decent people as far as I could tell. Jessica needed to stop having thoughts of her and I being together, because it would be a cold day in hell when that happened. She was nice enough to Bella but she had no idea who I was or what I was capable of.

Bella saw me approaching and she smiled at me and gave me a wave. I returned my best ladykiller smile and took the seat next to her. She laughed when I put my things down and I stopped what I was doing.

"What?" I asked, wondering what was so funny.

"It looks like you got rained on. Just a little." She giggled and turned slightly to face me. I noticed that I was indeed quite wet, but I didn't really care. Bella's amusement was pleasant and I liked the sound of her laugh.

"I guess it didn't rain a bunch in California?" chimed in Jessica. I shook my head and looked her way. "Nah, I lived about an hour outside the Valley, so it was always hot. That's why I like it here more. It's a nice change of pace." I was bullshitting, of course, because I hadn't been to California in at least three years.

Last time I was there I'd infiltrated an entire den of wolves and killed all of them.

By myself.

Bella's face lit up. "That's how I feel about Phoenix. It's a dry heat in Arizona though, just like Hell."

I barked a laugh. She had good humor. Jessica spoke up again. "So, what do your parents do?" I knew she was speaking to me because she'd leaned across the round table toward me as far as she could without lying on top of it. It was probably no coincidence that she was wearing a low cut shirt and was trying to show me everything she had to offer.

How crass. I felt sympathy that she was under the impression that she had to be so promiscuous to catch a man's attention.

Still, I played along. "My dad is retired. He was in the computer industry in California. My mother was a paralegal but she retired too." Jessica's face betrayed mild surprise, and I got curious about it. I reached into her mind and her thoughts flooded into my head. I felt the nervousness she was feeling because she was near me, and the shock she was trying to suppress.

_He's going here but it sounds like his parents are rich. I wonder if he's got a trust fund or something. Maybe he doesn't want to go to a private school…_

Her thoughts ran together as her mental processes continued running normally. If it's one compliment I can give to humans, it's that the human mind is extremely powerful. Images and words and feelings coalesce into thoughts and those thoughts become new images and words and feelings for more thoughts. I could feel Jessica's range of emotions move from surprise into more nervousness as she gave up wondering why I was attending a public high school and focused more on how she could talk to me. She kept turning ideas over in her head about topics she could bring up. She remembered the beach trip on Saturday and she became excited over getting to be near me outside of school. Her excitement turned to disappointment as she remembered that the trip was a week away.

I let the mental connection fade. The entire process had taken a few seconds.

Bella spoke up. "So your dad randomly chose Washington?" Her question was a little more difficult to bullshit, but I accepted the challenge.

"Well, he's always wanted to move north, and he found a house up here that my mom fell in love with, so when she said she wanted to live here he moved us up here." It wasn't entirely a lie.

Carlisle would do absolutely anything for Esme. He'd turn himself over to the wolves if it would be to her benefit.

"It sounds like he loves her a lot." She smiled at her conclusion and I nodded in agreement. I held my eyes to hers a little too long, because I wanted so badly to know how she really felt about it, but I would likely summon an entire battalion of wolves if I tried reading her mind.

Jessica got up and walked toward the doors. I saw Angela and Eric coming in and she was joining them in the line. I felt relieved as I was left alone with Bella.

"So, this afternoon, I was thinking we could skip out by the football field" I said. Bella's face perked up but she looked a little worried. "Will anyone be out there?" she asked.

I had figured that she wasn't quite such a goody-good to worry about being caught. Even without being able to read human minds, people rarely fail to be predictable for me. It was my turn to be a little surprised.

"I don't think so. There should be no team practice out there." I was right, because football was a winter sport and the semester had just started. If this podunk high school had any modicum of normalcy, it would follow a standard athletic schedule.

Bella looked reassured and nodded. "Alright. I usually don't worry about getting caught but I always got caught in Phoenix so now I'm paranoid." She laughed.

Fucking hell. This girl was impossible. I felt a short rush of pleasure that she was proving to make me question all of my preconceived notions about her, but still, I was used to being right about humans and it made me feel vulnerable when a seventeen girl was able to surprise me with anything.

I chalked the feeling up to me not being able to read her and let it go.

"So you're a rule breaker?" I asked, genuinely curious at this point.

Her face turned thoughtful and she was silent for a moment. "I don't know if I'm a rule breaker. I rebelled against my mother in Phoenix because she and I don't get along, but that isn't the person I am normally." She shrugged.

"Why don't you and your mom get along?" It was different for me to be making genuine conversation with a human, but it was nice as long as that human was Bella.

"She…she kind of took me away from my Dad when I was a kid. She broke his heart and she moved us to Phoenix, which I hated. To this day she's convinced that it was 'in my best interest' and that 'I didn't understand'." She made a hateful sound that sounded like a curse under her breath.

"But, she found someone new to leech off of and decided to let me move back here." Her face grew cheerful again.

I was fucking hooked. I wanted to know more, but Jessica came back with Eric and Angela tailing behind and I decided to continue the conversation this afternoon when we skipped together.

Eric and Angela greeted us warmly and they got down to discussing the trip on Saturday.

"Where are we all gonna meet? We usually did it at Tyler's house but he graduated last year, so…" Jessica had spoken, and I looked around to see Angela and Eric drawing a total blank.

"We can meet at my place" volunteered Bella. Jessica's eyebrows raised a bit, but then she smiled and nodded.

"That works. We all go in Mike's van, so we can all meet there and go from there." I wasn't sure how I felt about Mike knowing where Bella lived, but that wasn't really any of my business.

I didn't really care. Honest.

Not really.

"Where is he, anyway?" asked Angela. She was dicking around on her phone as she spoke.

"I think he went to the clinic. He said he wasn't feeling well this morning" said Jessica. I stifled a laugh. It looks like my mental meddling had done more than erase his memories. He was probably feeling nauseous and dizziness from my neuropathway reconstruction.

A sure sign of a weak human mind. A stronger man would have remembered bits and pieces of what I'd tried to erase, and never would have felt ill afterward.

The bell rang and the humans set into motion. I got up and looked at Bella, who was getting her shit together. Jessica bid her goodbyes and Angela took off with Eric in another direction. Bella look up at me.

"Shall we?" I asked.

Biology couldn't be over faster.


	5. Chapter 5

**Edward Cullen**

Bella and I sat through fifty minutes of Biology in tense anticipation for the bell to set us free. I couldn't be entirely sure that she was as tense as I was, of course, but her nervous fidgeting and constant glancing at the clock above the dry-erase board were a small hint.

But who knew. With Bella, I was liable to be one hundred percent wrong and she just really needed to take a leak.

The teacher, Mr. Banner, was at least more lively than most of the other teachers on campus. He had inflections in his voice every so often and he moved slightly faster than the speed of smell. He rambled on about the basics of scientific inquiry and current perspectives in Biology as I thought about Bella.

I didn't care that I would be skipping a class, because it would be time spent with her. I should have wanted to spend the time with her to advance my goals in the war, but I wasn't going to lie to myself and say that I wasn't looking forward to her company.

_The war, Edward. You're over ten times her age. She should be irrelevant to you._

Yeah. Should be. Fuck off, subconscious.

I glanced over at Bella, who was seated with me at our table in the back of the room, and saw her texting. My eyesight wasn't as sharp as it normally would be with the sun out, but it matched human eyesight and I could see the name on her screen.

I'm usually not so nosy, but I couldn't resist looking at the contact she was texting.

Jacob Black.

Jacob fucking Black.

_My target. _

I felt my heart pick up just a bit as I mentally took a step back to assess my next move. I mentally started running through possible courses of action. Ask her about it when we skipped class. Steal her phone and look through it. Tell Carlisle that she'd made contact. Have him try to get a bead on the text signal.

Mr. Banner interrupted my scheming with an overly enthusiastic vomit of words. "Mister Cullen! How do you feel about that?" He wanted to know how I felt about biology in the last fifty years. I mentally cursed the human and resisted the urge to tell him that I'd been alive for all of those fifty years. I also resisted the urge to put a bullet in him.

Having a gun on a school campus was definitely not okay, but being jumped by a wolf on a school campus in the daylight was far worse.

I had been listening to his lecture the entire time in case something like this happened. I looked him right in the eye and gave him my verbal equivalent of a kick in the nuts. "The emphasis on moralistic approaches to science, especially biology, has never suited me well. Of course, one has to consider the subjectivity of what is defined as 'moral', but at any rate I'll always hold a behaviorist opinion and say that results are the goal and most important aspect of experimentation, never the method."

He had been expecting me to give him some garbage because he thought I hadn't been paying attention. His face was deadpan and his mouth was ever so slightly agape.

I didn't have to read his mind to know that he felt like an idiot.

"Very good Mr. Cullen. He brings up a great point, class, if we examine…" he trailed off into another asinine rant and tried to redeem himself while I lost interest and looked at Bella again.

She was staring up into my eyes with those brown, color-of-the-earth eyes of hers with shock written all over her face. I gave her a silent 'what?' and she betrayed more surprise.

She drew up a blank text on her phone, typed out a message and handed me the phone.

_That was awesome! You're my project partner from now on with smarts like that, mister._

I smirked, erased her text, and wrote a response.

_Well if you insist. I can't possibly say no when you twist my arm like that._

I handed her the phone back. I heard her giggle and I looked at her. She mouthed 'smartass' at me and I stifled a laugh. My humor is often lost on people. And not just humans. Vampires, werewolves, and humans alike usually don't understand that I'm hilarious. I've gotten used to it.

Bella pocketed her phone and I got back to thinking about her texting Jacob Black and what I was going to do. I could steal her phone, but I would have some trouble managing that. She wasn't a stupid human and fooling her would probably be a straightforward yet challenging proposition.

Not to insult Bella. But seventeen years on Earth won't teach you much, especially when the first ten are fuzzy and not well remembered.

I decided to wait until her and I were alone and bring it up in conversation. She would either give me all the information I needed, or she would give me fuck-all and I would go from there. I was playing fast and loose with my disguise as it was; being reckless in my planning and execution of this entire ordeal might as well be allowed, right?

Bella and I sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before the bell rang its shrill screech. The humans did their daily run for the door while I took my time getting up. Bella was getting her backpack on when she checked her phone again and stopped moving. She went from looking fine to looking tightly wound, almost instantly. I wondered what was troubling her and cursed the wolf who had protection magic on her. If only I could read her. For a second. This would be so much easier. She took in a shaky breath and pocketed her cellular and my intuition flared up and started going apeshit with red flags.

_Something happened with the wolf. Something bad._

She looked up at me when she was ready and forced a smile. "Ready?" she asked.

She was trying to be strong. Admirable, but unnecessary with me. I would listen to whatever it was bothering her. As soon as we got to the football field.

We walked into the dark mist and I hoped that she wouldn't mind being outside in this kind of weather. She didn't seem to mind. "So," she said, "I don't know where we're going." She laughed slightly but she was visibly different after that last text. She looked ahead as we walked while I looked at her. I needed to know what was eating away at her.

"It's right around this corner. We'll cut behind the gym." She nodded without looking at me and we kept going. I practically had to nail my mouth shut so I wouldn't ask her what was wrong. If I asked too soon she might close up and tell me that it was nothing.

"Are you okay? You seem off" I asked, unable to resist. I internally kicked myself. Two minutes. I couldn't wait two minutes to ask her what was wrong.

_Pansy ass_, I chided at myself.

She was silent for a minute. "I'll tell you when we get there" she said, and I took back some of my self-directed punishment. She would tell me, just not right now.

We walked behind the gym on a sidewalk that rarely got any use; there was hardly any old gum covering it. The football practice field was up ahead and it was utterly deserted. The field actually had a pretty good view of the sky; there was no tree line on the far side of the field, so the mountains of dark clouds were completely visible. Even with Bella upset over something, I drank in the view.

The bleachers were another minute away and we walked in silence. When we arrived, I set my stuff down and went ahead of Bella to step up two or three seats. She took longer to set her stuff down and looked up at me. I felt some instinct inside of me click and I lost control of myself.

I outstretched my hand to help her up. She stared at me with those beautiful brown eyes again and reached out to me slowly, not quite hesitantly…it was more like she was trying to convince herself that I wouldn't snatch my hand back.

Her hand grasped mine and I let out hands stay linked like that for a second or two too long. I stroked her hand with my thumb and then helped her up to my level. She got to me quick and in a second she was in front of me, out hands still linked. Her fingers laced with mine for the briefest of moments before we broke our touch at the same time.

I felt my breath catch a little and I tried to ignore whatever it was that I was feeling at that second. I had known what I was going to do, but I probably should have shown some restraint. I'd wanted to touch her, but I wasn't prepared for it to have the effect on me that it did.

_Head in the game, Cullen. Jesus fucking Christ. There's only an entire war going on. _

Bella shakily sat down and I sat next to her. She looked more shaken up than before, but this time it was a good kind of shaken up. Almost like she was feeling what I was.

At least, that's what I wanted to believe.

_War. The War. The WAR._

"Thanks" she said softly. I chuckled at her perfect timing. "Don't mention it" I said, turning toward her and staring into those eyes of hers once more. "So tell me. What's wrong?" I didn't want to brush off our moment, if you could call it that, but I still had to get to the bottom of her situation.

She shook her head and started fiddling around with her hair. "It's nothing. My friend, Jacob, he said he can't talk for a while and that he's having family problems. I'm worried about him, that's all. He never gets like this." I was relieved that she was having a problem that was manageable and admittedly trivial, and I was intrigued about what it meant if Jacob Black couldn't talk to her. Was the Quileute tribe on the move?

"How long have you known him?" I asked, needing to start from the bottom and work my way up to get her to tell me about him.

"God, pretty much my whole life" she started. "I met him when I was a little kid. I was probably four or five. We played all the time and were really close until my Mom made me move to Arizona." Her face darkened slightly when she got to her mother. "We talked a lot when I was away. He even came to visit once. My mom put the shutdown on that, of course, but we didn't let the distance affect us. I guess you could say he's my best friend. He's been there for me through a lot." She paused and started tying her hair into pigtails.

I didn't let the outrageously sexy pigtails distract me for too long. "So, are you guys, like, together…?" I played dumb, but in a lot of ways it was an honest question, because I didn't know anything about this wolf or what he was to her.

To my surprise, she laughed. "Oh god, no. Jacob is like my brother. That would be far beyond weird if I dated him. No. He's just one of the few people I can really rely on. Him, my Dad… they're really the only two. I wasn't allowed to talk to my Dad hardly at all in Arizona. My mom let me talk to Jacob but I had to really fight for that one. I had fought to talk to my Dad, too, but she wouldn't budge on him. She would have died before she let me maintain regular contact with him." Her voice became laced with acid as she described her mother again, so I veered the conversation into more relevant territory.

"So what did you tell him? Just now, I meant?" She finished with her pigtails and I called upon my iron will not to look at them. "I told him to just call me when he could. He'll eventually get all of this settled."

I nodded and looked out at the sky again. So, Jacob Black was most likely in the process of moving with the rest of the Quileute tribe. He was shutting Bella out, which was the real kicker; if she wasn't going to be near them any time soon, a blood bond would do nothing but fuck me in the head and we were lost.

I started to feel defeat set in upon me when I remembered Carlisle's words.

"_She has vital intel that they are obviously protecting, so theoretically they would want to keep their one vulnerability close at hand. When the Quileutes go into hiding, they will keep contact with her to ensure that her life is proceeding normally."_

So what was Jacob thinking? Perhaps he had no idea about the existence of werewolves yet, and he too really believed that family problems were the necessitation for his moving. I'd had full faith in Carlisle, and I let his words comfort me. Jacob might not be wise to what was really happening, but one of the older wolves in the tribe would eventually reach out to Bella or her father and bring her back into their peripheral vision.

_It's okay. This doesn't mean defeat. _

I let that thought rest easy and realized that I was now back to playing the waiting game.

_Next step: feed her. _

I mentally set that thought aside and felt my stress diminish by a marginal amount. I just had to maintain my disguise for now, then. I would forge the blood bond with her and wait for the Quileutes to bring me to them. I felt like all of this was too easy, but I realized that the amount of patience and time that this would require had sufficiently raised the difficulty of this operation. Not to mention the blood bond.

"I'm really sorry to hear that he's so out of touch. If you guys have been friends for this long I'm sure he has a good reason to be so distant" I said, shifting the conversation from subtle interrogation to genuine discourse.

She smiled at me and she looked like she was doing somewhat better. "I know. This isn't the first time he's gotten like this. I just don't like it when my friends suffer, that's all." Such a big heart this girl had.

_Not the first time he's gotten like this. Drop your sissy talk for a second and ask about that, dipshit._

"He's been like this before?" I asked, curiosity coloring my tone.

"Oh, yeah. It's just regular life stuff. He fails a test, he beats himself up for it. He gets into a fight with his dad, he questions it. He's just really emotionally driven."

_See that? Nothing at all. Fuck off, subconscious._

I nodded. I was becoming more interested in actually talking to her every second and decided that I had enough info for now. A few minutes of conversation about the wolf I was tracking felt meager, but I couldn't justify over an hour of discussion on him. I could pick up more bits and pieces as I went. That, and Jacob Black wasn't my only priority. I still had the task of getting myself intertwined into Bella's life enough and playing the human.

"I hear you. You just seemed really shaken up when we left class, that's all" I said, wanting to move the discussion into more cheerful territory. Bella having life issues wasn't favorable for me forging a blood bond with her, so understanding her issues was ideal for me dealing with the emotional shit storm I was soon to create within myself. But still, depressing teenage angst was something I was far out of touch with and I enjoyed happy Bella.

I mean, it's normal to not want to see someone suffer, right?

"Well, that was one part of it" she said, looking at her feet. I cursed inwardly and wondered just how I'd address that. I opted for charming lenience.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just don't like seeing you upset, that's all" I said, doing my best to sound casual. I really did want to know what was bothering her, but I shouldn't have been as eager as I was to help her.

"It's kind of a long story. I mean, I'd tell you, but I really don't want to just ramble…" she trailed off, and I figured that she was leaving it up to me if I wanted to hear it.

Well of course I wanted to hear it.

"I'm here to listen" I said.

She took a deep breath and sat up straight, looking off into the storm clouds.

"I was thinking about an ex of mine this morning" she said, and I corralled myself into silence, praying to God that this wasn't an 'I miss him so much' situation.

"I got to thinking about how things turned out between us and it kind of brought me down. I mean, I try not to think about it, but comes up every now and again, you know?" She turned and looked at me, and she did look better; perhaps talking about what was effecting her had done some good.

And still, I couldn't say that I knew how she felt. For nearly two centuries I'd been alive, and most of those years had been spent hunting down the wolves, fighting the war.

I lied. "I know how it is. I'm sorry." Then I told the truth. "Whoever he was, he was an idiot."

She didn't look away. "Why's that" she asked.

"Well, he either let you go or he lost you. Either way, for him to have done either of those, he was a fool. Because it was you he lost." I really hoped that she needed no further explanation that that, because it was hard enough to tell her that much.

Not because I didn't want to tell her, but because I shouldn't have those kinds of feelings about the situation.

What was I doing? Jesus Christ, I should have just left it at 'I'm sorry' and moved on, but no. I was actually trying to connect with her.

_That's your job, isn't it?_

She smiled. "Thank you. But it wasn't quite like that. It was kind of a disastrous break up, which is what bothers me about it" she said. I was intrigued.

"Disastrous?" I asked, unable to stop myself from asking.

"His name was Blake. We met when I was a freshman. He was a junior. I know, the age difference was probably something I should have cared about, but I didn't. I was at Phoenix High, a school with over ten thousand students, so I felt really special when he started talking to me. I mean, there were literally thousands of other girls he could have chosen, but he wanted me. We had a history class together. After he introduced himself on the first day, I couldn't get enough of him. We talked all the time. We texted, he walked me to my classes, introduced me to some of his friends. It was wonderful. But I hadn't had a serious boyfriend yet. I'd had 'boyfriends' in middle school, but middle school relationships are kind of a joke, you know?"

I nodded. Waited. Needed to hear more.

"So, we in this weird kind-of-dating but not-really-dating half relationship thing. He had told me that he liked me, and he knew I was completely smitten with him, but we didn't go official or anything after he told me. We just stayed in, well, the weird half relationship thing. Until Christmas."

She stopped and I sensed that the story was going to go from informative to tragic, quick. With Bella it was liable to be _anything_, but I got the feeling that petty teenage relationship drama was not her flavor.

"We had Christmas break off, and we spent as much time together as we could. My mom didn't really have any strong feelings about him. She'd met him once and didn't really care that he and I spent a lot of time alone. Anyway, we were downtown one night, and there were so many people out. There's this huge Christmas tree that they put up downtown every year, and I wanted to see it. So we went there, and it was…well, magical. At the time I thought it was, anyway. We'd been downtown all night with his friends, and by that time they all liked me. I felt like life was perfect. My grades were pretty good for me being so obsessed with Blake all semester. But. We hadn't really taken things further than just texting all night and things like that. But that night, he held my hand the entire time. I guess he just decided that physical barriers didn't mean anything. I was so thrilled. And, by the time we got to the Christmas tree downtown, it was so late. There were still people out and I thought I was on top of the world. A freshman, pretty much dating a junior, and everything felt so _good._"

She paused again and I didn't speak a word. I was thinking that she would eventually reach the bad shit, but I'd gotten lucky and she was giving me every detail she could remember.

That's no sarcasm. I could listen to her talk about herself all day. And her voice. Yeah. I was definitely okay with her voice.

"But anyway. We got to this Christmas tree, which I'd seen before, but with him it felt special. We just stared up at didn't say anything. I can't remember what it is he said to me to get my attention, but when I looked back at him, he was kissing me. It was…exhilarating. It was like nothing could go wrong for me. The entire semester had passed so wonderfully, and now he was _kissing _me."

I ignored the weird feeling that set up shop in my chest and waited.

"Needless to say, Santa couldn't have brought me any better gift that night. I don't think I even slept that night after he dropped me off at home. My adrenaline was in overdrive and my heart didn't slow down a beat. I knew I was in love then. I thought life was perfect."

She stopped again. I knew that the gory details had to come out eventually and prepared myself for whatever this human had done to her.

"Well, New Years passed by in a blur and I thought that my entire life was set. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I really felt that way. But, around the middle of January he started to get…weird. He would text me asking me where I was, making sure he knew I was close to him. At school he started getting overly physical. Always trying to keep me near him. He would throw a fit if I wanted to go somewhere that he wasn't. He started having his friends watch me wherever I went in case he wouldn't be near me. It all got so…stifling. His possessive side came out in full swing after he started telling me who I could and couldn't be around."

I nodded and was starting to become afraid of where exactly this was leading.

As a vampire who has seen the true horrors of war for one hundred eighty eight years, to say that I was afraid was pretty fucking heavy.

"Well, I wasn't having any of that. He and I started fighting, and eventually the perfect life I'd thought I had started to turn into something worse. He kept me in line with his words, and at the beginning it worked. Threatening to break up with me, mostly. If it was anything I couldn't handle, it was the thought of losing him."

"But, eventually, his words didn't work anymore. So he used his hands to keep me in line."

I felt anger flash though me. I couldn't say that I was surprised, but it didn't make me any less pissed.

The rage boiled in my chest and I tried to keep my cool.

"The first time he ever hit me was in school. We were having a talk behind one of the buildings during lunch. I told him that things weren't working, and our talk turned into a full blown argument. When I told him that I could leave if I wanted to, he snapped. He slapped me, right across the face. He played baseball for the school, so he was no weakling. He started apologizing immediately after it happened, begging me to stay, telling me it would never happen again. I was so shaken up, and so afraid to lose someone that had made my life in Phoenix bearable, that I gave him another chance."

I nodded and hoped that the end of this story came fast. I was going to burst from the fury tearing through me. The thought of some human piece of shit harming her shouldn't have upset me so much, but it did, and I had no chance of keeping a lid on those feelings.

"Very soon after that, the abuse got worse. He never hit me in front of anyone else, but I was foolish and kept sacrificing me free time to be with him. If we were alone, together, he usually wound up hitting me or using his strength to dominate me. By the end of the year, I was a mess. My grades had fallen, which gave my mother an excuse to turn into more of a bitch. She stopped letting me see him as often as I was, which didn't make him happy. He blamed me for it. Of course, the whole time the physical abuse was going on, he was emotionally abusive as well. He destroyed my self-esteem, he told me that if I wasn't him that I was nothing, that I was no one. He did everything he could to make me entirely dependent upon him. Of course, the last thing I needed by that point was him in my life any longer. About half way through summer, I realized that, and I guess that he was catching on to the fact that he couldn't fool me forever. So, he gave one last desperate attempt at keeping me with him forever."

I wasn't sure how much worse that this story could get, but I waited in silence.

"He figured that if he knocked me up that I would have to marry him because his parents had money. Not a lot, but enough that I would have to stay with him to raise the baby. But see, we'd never had sex. We'd never done anything like that together. So he decided that he would make a baby with me. Whether I liked it or not."

My fangs shot out and I clamped a hand over my mouth. It was a miracle that the gesture was easy to pass off as me being horrified, because if I hadn't she would have seen my chompers.

But I had fully heard what she'd said and if I was furious before, I was livid now.

I couldn't help myself.

"Did he…" I started.

"Did he succeed? No. Hell no. We were at his parents' house when he tried to force himself on me, and they got home before he could do anything. But that was only because I fought back. And won."

So Bella was no pansy. She could fight. I liked that.

"I broke his nose." She giggled. "It's bad to laugh, I know, but he didn't know who he was trying to violate. But anyway. That day I finally told him it was over. He begged me and begged me to stay, told me that he wasn't actually going to rape me, that he was just trying to keep us together, blah blah blah. I told him to go to hell. School was still three weeks from starting, so for three weeks he blew up my phone with calls, texts, voicemails asking to just talk to me so we could work it out. He started stalking me. Driving by my house. He even came to my window one night. I threatened to call the cops and he ran. This went on right until about two or three days before school started. Finally he called me the weekend before we went back, and he asked me to just listen to him. I told him he had five minutes. So for five minutes he told me that he loved me, that I was the only girl he'd ever loved this much, and that he couldn't live without me, and all that crap. I told him that we couldn't be together after everything he'd done, and that was that. I hung up on him. And I never saw him again."

Bella ended her story with perfect timing. I heard the bell ring in the distance we both remained seated.

"So…he doesn't call you, text you, annoy you anymore?" I asked, keenly aware that there was now a human male somewhere in the world that was obsessed with Bella. Not only was that a compromise to my plans and to victory in the war, but no one would touch Bella. No hair on her head would be touched by anyone, human, wolf, or vampire.

Bella gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. "No. He doesn't bother me anymore." She looked out at the clouds again. "I thought about Blake after Jake texted me because Jake was the person I went to after Blake tried to force himself on me. Of course he went batshit insane and almost told my dad, but I didn't want word of what had happened going around the school. It would only further ruin my life which was already looking pretty grim as it was. And when Jake said that he wouldn't be able to talk to me and that he didn't know when he'd be back, I kind of felt vulnerable. That's all."

I nodded. "Well, I know you don't know me that well and everything, but I'm not leaving any time soon, so if you ever need anything." I left it at that because I was trying to moderate my behavior, trying to clamp down on whatever it was that was compelling me to act this way toward Bella. I hardly knew her and already she was having this effect on me. I couldn't explain it but I also knew that as time went on, I would eventually understand. I would reason all of this out.

Wouldn't I?

She smiled. "Thank you. Really." She looked at me and again I was locked in her stare. I then remembered that there was a question I wanted to ask her.

"So, what if he tries to follow you here? If he's so obsessed aren't you worried that he might show up one day?" I was hoping that he did, because I would rip out his spine and bury him alive if I had the chance.

"He won't. He can't." She said, looking away again.

Awh, party pooper. I wanted to kill him. Badly.

"What makes you so sure?" I asked, genuinely curious.

She was silent. After a moment she looked at her feet.

"He's dead."


End file.
